15:53, 10 June 2004

Number of Chechen presidential contenders grows

Two residents of Grozny filed their applications with the Chechen election commission on June 9 asking to register them as candidates for the Chechen presidency. The new candidates are lawyer Adam Edilov and doctor Sultan Aiskhanov. Both the candidates are self-nominated.

As of today, six candidates for the post of Chechen president are registered by the Chechen election commission. Mariat Gorchkhanova, Vakhid Visayev, Malik Saidullayev, and Marat Zaynalabidov had submitted appropriate documents earlier.

Meanwhile, it is widely rumored in the republic that Chechen Interior Minister Major-General Alu Alkhanov will become a new president of Chechnya. Reliable sources assert that his candidacy has been approved by the Kremlin administration. It is indirectly confirmed by the fact that all state agencies and enterprises on the territory of Chechnya were given oral instructions from higher authorities to arrange gatherings of work collectives in support of Alu Alkhanov. At the same time, General Alkhanov has not made any official statements so far that he is going to run for the Chechen presidency.

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent

Source: Caucasian Knot