Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004
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By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, SEPT.28. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has launched a sweeping political reform that would strengthen his hold on the provinces in the face of a growing threat of Islamic fundamentalism. Mr. Putin sent to Parliament a bill abolishing the election of regional Governors by universal suffrage that was introduced by his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. The new law would enable him to appoint Governors, subject to endorsement by regional legislatures. The reform has been prompted by concerns that growing radicalisation of Islam in Russia could undermine its territorial integrity. In the wake of a bloody school hostage drama in Beslan, in which 340 persons died earlier this month, Mr. Putin called for an overhaul of the political system to "strengthen national unity" in the face of terrorists' attempts to provoke a "disintegration of the country."
Targeting autonomies
A senior Kremlin aide made it clear that the power reform mainly targeted Russia's Muslim autonomies. "There is no other Federative state in the world that includes ethnically-defined republics as we have in Russia," said the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Vyacheslav Surkov, today. "If the United States had, say, an Afro-American republic with its own language, Constitution ... they would surely clamp down restrictions on local elections. We are a very vulnerable country and must defend ourselves." A recent spate of terror strikes by Chechen rebels revealed a growing involvement in them of Islamic fundamentalists from other predominantly Muslim republics of Russia.
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