Rukh members serve as observers of presidential elections in Chechnya (02/09/97)

Rukh members serve as observers of presidential elections in Chechnya

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The election of Aslan Maskhadov as the first president of Chechnya on January 26 was a fair election, free of fraud, said Viktor Tsymbaliuk, a member of the executive body of the Rukh, at a press conference on February 2.

He was part of a delegation of five Rukh officials that traveled to the war-torn country as official observers of Chechnya's first independent elections, joining scores of other international observers.

The elections presented Chechens with three choices for the post of president. Aslan Maskhadov, a moderate who has attempted to maintain contacts with Russia in hopes of achieving a sort of peaceful co-existence with Moscow; Shamil Basaev, who was the most hard line of the three candidates; and Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, who became the president of the Autonomous Republic of Chechnya and the leader of the movement for Chechen independence after Jokar Dudaiev was killed by mortar fire during the war against Russia.

Mr. Maskhadov won handily, gaining 65 percent of the vote, with Mr. Basaev a distant second with 26 percent, trailed by Mr. Yandarbiev at 9 percent.

In all 275 official observers were on hand in the devastated capital of Grozny (recently renamed Dudaiev-cali) to witness the elections; among them 70 from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), five from Rukh and dozens from civil rights organizations in Russia and from around the world.

Mr. Tsymbaliuk said the atmosphere in Grozny was relaxed. "The election halls were filled with young people who waited patiently to allow the elderly and women to vote first," he explained. "Some waited so long they never got the chance to vote."

He also explained that the Russian press had treated the elections fairly, at least until after it was over. "In the last two days," said Mr. Tsymbaliuk, "the attitude has changed."

The openness with which the Chechen leaders greeted the election observers has also changed, it seems. On February 5, Tim Huldiman, the head of the OSCE observer delegation, was named "persona non grata" by the Chechen Foreign Affairs Ministry and asked to leave the country after he had stated at a press conference in Moscow that "jurisdictionally, Chechnya still belongs to Russia." According to the Associated Press, Mr. Huldiman said he would leave voluntarily.

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