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Moscow Times
May 12, 2004
Editorial
Chechnya Is Litmus Test for Kremlin

President Vladimir Putin has spared no energy in elevating Akhmad Kadyrov after his death and anointing his son as his spiritual successor. Within hours of the assassination, Putin had brought Ramzan Kadyrov to the Kremlin, where he told him and the entire nation that his late father was a "heroic man" who was leading Chechnya toward peace.

The next day, the younger Kadyrov was appointed first deputy prime minister of Chechnya. Then on Tuesday, Putin took a rare trip to Chechnya, where he presented the Kadyrov family with a posthumous Hero of Russia award for their patriarch. Upon his return to Moscow, he continued his praise of Kadyrov at a Cabinet meeting and signed a decree for his memory to be "immortalized."

Putin's impulse is understandable. He spent all four years of his first term installing Akhmad Kadyrov, and had all but succeeded in handing Chechnya back to the Chechens and washing his hands of the whole mess.

In Friday's inauguration address, Putin claimed a victory of sorts for the Russian people for "coming together in the struggle to ensure our country's territorial integrity and keep our land united."

Putin clearly would like to keep the Kadyrov clan in power. If someone new were to come in, the whole system of power that Kadyrov had created would come unraveled.

Yet if he has hopes of installing Ramzan as president, the new Chechen Constitution would seem to rule this out. He is only 27, while the Constitution states that the president must be at least 30.

For this Chechens can only be thankful. Akhmad Kadyrov, as odious as his regime was, was able to hold his own against both the rebels and Moscow. But his thuggish and uneducated son, whose brutal security force has terrorized the civilian population, would be an unmitigated disaster.

The election to find a replacement for Kadyrov Sr. -- scheduled for September -- will be the first major test of Putin's newfound commitment to strengthening democracy. Since re-election, Putin has gone out of his way to emphasize the importance he attaches to bolstering democracy, civil society and the multi-party system -- not least in his inauguration speech.

So, will it be a rerun of the crudely manipulated election that ensured Kadyrov Sr.'s installation as president last October or will we see something resembling a real contest?

Whatever happens, one thing is clear: Following widespread criticism of the State Duma and presidential elections, the international spotlight will be trained on the Kremlin and Putin will be under considerable pressure to back his rhetoric with democratic actions.