Putin Decree Calls for Elections in Chechnya
President Vladimir V. Putin signed a decree calling for a referendum on a constitution and elections in Chechnya, part of his effort to promote stability and bolster Russian control over the war-torn region.
The decree gives Chechnya’s Moscow-backed administration one month to organize a plebiscite in which voters would be asked to approve a draft constitution and bills on electing the republic’s president and parliament.
Critics argue that a referendum is meaningless without an end to the fighting and that the results are likely to be falsified.
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