Chechnya sets trend of demonstrative support for Putin by regional elites

Demonstration of maximum support for the incumbent power, characteristic of regions of Northern Caucasus, and especially of Chechnya, where authorities reported almost 99% of votes for Putin, has become a norm for many Russian regions. The election gave local elites a chance to show their loyalty to the Kremlin, analysts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the republics of Northern Caucasus, Vladimir Putin received the most votes for in Chechnya – 98.99%, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) has reported. There was virtually no independent monitoring at polling stations, but there were more than 160 reports about violations fixed in Southern Russia, activists of the "Golos" (Vote) movement*, have noted, doubting both the candidates' final outcomes and the voter turnout.

David Kankiya, a board member of the above movement, has stated that at this election, a sort of "Chechenization" occurred in Russia: "Chechnya showed what it had to show. Nobody counted ballots there; and there were no observers. These outcomes have nothing to do with reality. Kadyrov has shown as much as he wanted."

According to his story, it is possible that in the future election commissions will not hesitate to present the outcomes as close as possible to 100 percent. "We see that this trend is spreading throughout Russia, and not just in the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD)," Mr Kankiya has summed up, adding that at the election, regional authorities curry favour with the Kremlin; and in Northern Caucasus this trend is especially strong. "Under normal conditions, elections serve to find out how people feel about politicians. The latter are trying to earn citizens' trust. In our inverted system, the society is toadying with the president; and regional authorities are showing how loyal they are to him ... Our elections are held to please Putin. And in Northern Caucasus, they know better than anywhere how to do it," he has emphasized.

Sergey Zhavoronkov, a political analyst, also does not treat the election outcomes in Chechnya as anomalous. "It seems to me that Chechnya is one of the regions where the election totals have nothing to do with reality. They are simply invented with no real vote tabulation," he has stated, adding that the elections are a chance for local elites to show their loyalty to Putin.

*On August 18, 2021, the "Golos" (Vote) all-Russian public movement in defence of voters' rights was included in the new register of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent. The movement's website is blocked in Russia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 19, 2024 at 10:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.