The Pitfalls of the Normalization Process in the Chechen Republic

On 12 June, 2000, a decree was made public entitled “On the Organisation of a Provisional System of Executive Power in the Chechen Republic”, with Akhmad Kadyrov at its head. In the opinion of some commentators, that decree was intended to mean the de facto establishment of presidential rule in the republic.1 Half a year later, in January 2001, Vladimir Putin signed a decree entitled “On the System of Institutions of Executive Power in the Chechen Republic”, signalling the definitive predominance of the concept of “managed Chechenisation”, and thus a retreat from de facto direct presidential rule. According to that decree, the provisional administration was to be transformed into the permanent government of the Chechen Republic with broader, clearly defined authority. The process of stabilising the social and political life in the republic was to have been accompanied by the creation of the attributes of democratic statehood – a constitution, the institution of a presidency and of legislative power (parliament). The ultimate goal was to have been the signing of an accord on the division of authority between the Chechen Republic and the central, federal government. The parliamentary election which took place last autumn was characterized by the Kremlin as the last step in bringing Chechnya back to the constitutional realm of the Russian Federation, thus indicating a clear stabilization of the situation in the republic.