Favorite in Chechen presidential race known

People in Chechnya think that Chechen Interior Minister Major-General Alu Alkhanov will become the next president of the republic, in spite of the fact that Mr Alkhanov has not announced his intention to run for the Chechen presidency so far.

"The active PR-campaign to promote Alkhanov that has been launched both in the Chechen and Russian media indicates that the Kremlin has made its choice. And all those meetings and gatherings of people and work collectives, who ask Alkhanov to register his candidacy, are only scenery for his forthcoming appointment for the post of Chechen president. And the election can be easily held without people's participation. It was already worked through here during referendums and previous elections," said a 37-year-old teacher at the Chechen State University.

The refusal of known Moscow businessman Husein Dzhabrailov and Russian State Duma deputy Ruslan Yamadayev to take part in the presidential race was most likely caused by that very fact that Moscow had chosen the favorite. The former mayor of Grozny, Bislan Gantamirov, voiced his strong wish to run for Chechen president a few weeks ago but remains silent now.

Alu Akhanov's only serious rival in the election may be Malik Saidullayev, in experts' opinion. However, the experience of the last years' Chechen presidential election, when he was removed from the race being the main rival of late Akhmat Kadyrov, shows that Malik Saidullayev may find himself "overboard" one more time now.