Chechens approve new constitution; vote to stay Russian

March 24, 2003 - London Times
Chechens vote to stay Russian
From Clem Cecil in Grozny

CHECHENS voted overwhelmingly yesterday for a new constitution that aims to end the 3½-year war by giving the republic some autonomy within Russia, according to early results.

The constitution was supported by 95.5 per cent of voters, while 4.1 per cent voted to reject it, a Chechen election commission official told the Interfax news agency. The figures were based on results from four districts.

Two other laws, on electing a president and a parliament for the republic, were approved by 96 per cent of voters.

Russian special forces stood on the roofs of many polling stations, where war-weary Chechens, drawn by promises from President Putin of compensation for lost homes and handouts to young mothers, gathered to vote.

"Choose peace not war," posters around the buildings urged, appealing to a nation too befuddled by conflict to question the possible consequences of the referendum.

Mr Putin gave a television address to the Chechen people a week ago in which he promised them wide autonomy in Russia. Although a decade of war has reinforced suspicion of Russia within Chechnya, Mr Putin's emotive address worked magic. "We did not expect it from him," Zohara Soduev, who was selling champagne and plastic flowers outside one polling station, said.

"After I heard his sympathy for us, I decided to vote."

It is a desperate measure by Russia to consolidate its power in Chechnya. It has been humiliated in recent months by two terrorist attacks: the seizure of a Moscow theatre and the destruction of a government building in Grozny. Journalists were taken on a tour of Chechnya, designed to show a country on the mend. Federal forces have gained the north of the country, but rebel activity remains in the mountainous region and Grozny is still a war zone.

The city is in ruins: bullet holes pepper walls and not one building stands entire. In his address, Mr Putin promised compensation for the 280,000 homes destroyed by the war, an appealing prospect for a displaced people.

Displaced Chechens were also pushed to take part in the referendum. Polling booths were set up in refugee camps in neighbouring Ingushetia, where food rations were handed out with registration forms. The 5,000 Chechens living in one camp were told that it would close if they did not sign the forms. At the end of last year, refugees were given financial enticement to return to Chechnya in another attempt by Russia to create a semblance of normality.

The Russian authorities have refused to have any negotiations with rebels since the theatre siege in October. Officially ignored, they may be driven into yet more desperate acts to attract attention to their cause.

Chechen groups and human rights activists say that the referendum was an attempt to legitimise a brutal campaign and they fear a civil war. Many doubt that Moscow has the moral authority to administer justice in Chechnya, where there have been tens of thousands of civilian casualties in the past decade.

Two polling stations were burnt out last weekend and six federal soldiers killed. Security in Moscow was tightened over the weekend and 18,000 police were flown into Chechyna to guard the polling booths.

Yesterday, the local election committee said that more than 350,000 Chechens had voted, meaning that the referendum legally had taken place.

Russia has many promises to keep after the referendum if it is to maintain the trust of the Chechens who voted: not merely to pay compensation but also to show them continuing support as citizens of the Russian Federation.