October 8, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 11, 1424

MOSCOW: Akhmad Kadyrov, Moscow’s choice for the new president of the war-torn republic of Chechnya, was on Monday officially declared the winner in Sunday’s elections, ushering in a period of uncertainty in the separatist region.

Mr Kadyrov’s victory was announced after officials said they had counted 77 per cent of the votes, and that 81.1 per cent were for the head of the administration. The six other candidates got between 1 per cent and 6 per cent of the vote.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the 86 per cent turnout was a sign that “that people are hoping for a positive change, for security”.

Yet reports from some analysts suggested turnout was lower. Few people were thought to have voted in the Staropromoslovski region of Grozny.

About 40 people voted out of the thousands of Chechen refugees in camps on the border. International observers boycotted Sunday’s vote.

Mr Kadyrov becomes president of a people slowly learning to fear him. Opinion polls by the Russian agency Validator show that while 70 per cent of Chechens still fear Russian soldiers and 42 per cent fear rebels, 20 per cent now fear Mr Kadyrov’s unofficial “army”.

The election, which has been widely condemned as a farce after authorities persuaded or forced Mr Kadyrov’s two main opponents to withdraw from the race, is intended to rubberstamp the transfer of the republic from the rule of separatist president Aslan Maskhadov, elected in 1997, to a Russian appointee.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.