Chechen voters doubt elections will bring peace

RESIDENTS of Chechnya, a southern Russian republic plagued by persistent violence, corruption and squalor, began voting yesterday in the latest in a series of elections that are part of efforts to bring stability and peace.

Some 350 candidates were running for 58 of the 61 seats in the two-chamber regional legislature.

Despite continuing crime, Islamic extremism and skirmishes between Russian troops and separatist rebels, Kremlin officials contend the oil-rich Muslim region is on the road to recovery.

As evidence, they point to the three public votes held in the Caucasus republic since March 2003. President Alu Alkhanov said the election proved the region was stable.

But critics call previous elections flawed at best and rigged at worst. Observers and analysts said yesterday’s vote was the latest attempt by the Kremlin to make the situation look brighter than it is.

Many residents remain resentful of the authorities and doubt the vote will bring any positive changes.

Marina Makhchiyeva, a 59-year-old retiree selling onions, cigarettes and dried fish near a polling station west of Grozny, the capital, said she planned to vote but added: “Nothing is going to change. This is Chechnya, nothing ever changes.”

An estimated 100,000 civilians, soldiers and rebels have died in two Chechen wars since federal troops first swept into the region in 1994 to crush its separatist bid.

Regular skirmishes continue, with Russian troops and their Chechen allies on one side and rebel fighters on the other.

Water and electricity remain sporadic and unemployment is widespread - officially 60% of the region’s one million-plus residents are without work.