Kremlin's Candidate Wins Chechen Vote

30/08/2004| IslamWeb

Kremlin-backed Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov has been elected President of Russian- controlled Chechnya. According to partial results quoted by Russian news agencies on Sunday, Alkhanov took 72.2% of the vote. ITAR-TASS also quoted Moscow's interim president of the republic, Sergei Abramov, as saying 80% of the electorate had turned out to cast a ballot - well over the 30% required to make the vote legitimate. **Other candidates*** His nearest rival, Movsar, Khamidov, received just 13.5% of the ballot, the electoral commission said. Abd Allah Bugayev is currently in third place with 5.6%. The other four candidates polled less than 5% between them. However, final results are not due be announced until 08:00 GMT on Monday. The poll was forced when separatists assassinated Kremlin-backed president Akhmad Kadyrov in an explosion four months ago. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Chechnya's vice-premier Ramzan Kadyrov (L) talks to presidential candidate Alu Alkhanov after casting his vote in Tsentoroy, August 29, 2004. (REUTERS)