3 October 2000
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Presidential Elections In Tatarstan To Be Held In March
Tatarstan's president, Mintimer Shaimiev, on 3 October called for the republic's presidential election to be held in March in order to provide "pure" elections, an RFE/RL correspondent in Kazan reported. Shaimiev made his comments at a State Council presidium meeting in Kazan which was attended by Tatarstan's general-prosecutor and Supreme Court chairman. The Tatar president argued that the earlier decision to move the election up to 24 December -- which was adopted by the Tatarstan State Council on 23 September -- is controversial because federal and republican laws on the issue contradict each other, and it could lead to court cases on the subject in the future. He said that to ensure that "the activity of newly-elected president doesn't begin with disputes and trials," the elections will be held as originally planned in March. The Presidium set an extraordinary plenary session for 9 October to consider the issue. A republican delegation, which included Tatarstan's State Council chairman, the general-prosecutor, the Supreme Court chairman, and the Central Electoral Commission chairman, met in Moscow on 2 October with the Russian presidential administration head, the general-prosecutor, the Supreme Court chairman, and the Central Electoral Commission chairman to compare federal and republican electoral laws and discuss their positions.
By Gulnara Khasanova