Kadyrov's electoral record sparks scepticism among political analysts

The concrete outcomes of elections in Chechnya have no importance for the federal authorities and the West, while Kadyrov's record in the number of won votes looks ridiculous, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ramzan Kadyrov has won 99.7% of the votes at the election of the head of Chechnya held earlier in September, and broke his own record of 2016, when he won 97% of the votes. Ramzan Kadyrov has won the greatest number of votes among global regional heads and set a world record according to the "InterRecord".

The election outcome, although looking grotesque in the light of the world record, has no matter for Kadyrov or the Kremlin, says Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst and the head of scientific studies at the "Civilizations' Dialogue" Institute.

"Both of them don't care about the elections and figures. Everyone understands that they are falsified. When I see these numbers, I can't treat them otherwise than as a laughing stock. The West, in its turn, disregards them either," Mr Malashenko has noted.

Kadyrov's record in the number of votes looks ridiculous, since it is clear to the head of Chechnya, Putin and voters that the elections were rigged, agrees Svetlana Gannushkina, a human rights defender and the chair of the "Civil Assistance" Committee**.

Putin is publicly supporting Kadyrov only because Kadyrov is supporting Putin, Ms Gannushkina believes. Kadyrov is also tirelessly reminding the president that "Chechnya is part of Russia," and these words flatter Putin. "For this, Kadyrov gets all the benefits, because he is Putin's 'infantryman'," Svetlana Gannushkina has concluded.

**The organization has been included by the Ministry of Justice of Russia into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 27, 2021 at 09:37 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.