Putin nominates Kadyrov for Chechen presidency
03:58 PM (MSK) March 1, 2007
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he has nominated Ramzan Kadyrov to the Chechen presidency. In mid-February, Putin accepted the resignation of Alu Alkhanov, ex-president of the troubled North Caucasus republic whose term was due to expire in 2008 and appointed him to the post of deputy justice minister in the central government. The move was widely seen as clearing the way for the ex-prime minister and acting president Kadyrov to become president. "As vice premier and prime minister you have done a great deal to restore Chechnya," Putin said during a meeting with Kadyrov.
Putin highlighted the recent progress in Chechnya's development and said he hoped the republic's parliament would support Kadyrov's candidacy, who should continue his efforts in Chechnya's socio-economic restoration.
Kadyrov, the son of the late President Akhmad Kadyrov, who had been in charge of his father's security and is popular among Chechens, was unable to take up the post following his father's assassination in May 2004, at the time he had not reached 30 - a pre-condition for presidential candidates set by the Chechen Constitution.




