Interview with Ovukhat Khanchukayev, candidate for Chechen presidency

The interview with the Chechen presidential contender Ovukhat Khanchukayev was conducted by Ruslan Umarov, a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

- Would you tell of your biography?

- I was born in Kazakhstan in 1954. Returning to the homeland, I graduated from a secondary school in Grozny in 1970. Then I entered the Chechen State University (CSU) and graduated from the chemical and biological faculty. I had an internship at the Leningrad Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute, so I started my scientific effort as early as being a student. I worked as a junior member of the teaching staff at the CSU, then as a teacher at school. I returned to the CSU in 1980 and I have taught there since that time to this very day. I go in for phytotherapy. I graduated from the construction faculty of the Grozny Oil Institute not breaking work. In 1997 my associates and I founded a public organization, the Coordinating Council "Ortsa" ("Anxiety"), and I began to take active part in public activity. This work has made me a politician in part.

- Why did you decide to propose yourself as candidate?

- While engaging in public activity, I took part in the preparation of the draft Chechen Constitution, in a number of enlightening and human rights actions. Republican problems and tasks have accumulated in me, and I have felt I can do a lot for the republic.

- Who are your voters?

- They are different people, starting with a grain-grower and ending with a scientist. Students, young people and others, though I am predisposed to the people of intellectual direction.

- How do you estimate a current situation in the Chechen Republic?

- Today's situation can not, of course, be compared to the one which was two or three years ago. The expenses when getting things put in order in the Chechen Republic have reduced, but they still present. Explosions and bombardments keep on going, it means there is no lasting peace yet. The tangle of problems we have is too complicated. Not only interior factors affect the situation in Chechnya, but exterior ones do too, as it was and it is a link in the chain of geopolitical processes. Our analysis will be pallid if not to analyze the heart. The situation in Chechnya will smooth painfully and not so fast. A dialogue is to be a main arm here.

The dilemma "Chechnya-Ichkeria" existed in Russia's politics. It is not an internal invention of Chechnya. Boris Yeltsin switched on green light for Ichkeria, and we remember its matter. But if deputies of Ichkeria realize the situation, if they are talked to, it means we can talk with any representative of Ichkeria who is ready for a dialogue, leaving out those people from this field who accept no dialogue, no diplomacy, who are oriented only at violence.

- To what extent are the central media objective, in your opinion, with respect to Chechnya?

The mass media imparted the image of enemies to the Chechens from the very outset. Today, when we try to take a civilized way of development, the media should not play up negative moments, but show the dynamics of constructive life. There should be more trust... for instance, not obtaining a proof yet, television informed at once that Chechen Prime Minister Anatoly Popov had been poisoned.

- What will be your practical steps if you win the elections?

- The field of civil concord is to be widened to the maximum. We must not divide the society into Kadyrov's supporters, Maskhadov's supporters... Governors leave, people stay. The division of the nation that is aimed to support some leader takes away from necessary concord. It seems to me representatives of Ichkeria can be taken into the Chechen government, let it be a coalition one for the period of transition. When we build up a State system, we will be able to speak about concrete steps in directions.

- What are the basic features of your election program?

- First of all, I intend to seek that the federal center will give Chechnya preferential terms for 5-10 years. I mean the making of a favor zone for businessmen, such one as our neighbors had. It may be an offshore zone or privileges for the use of energy resources. It may be followed by drawing in investment and a process of privatization. The profitable use of local resources and so on. It is necessary to speed up the making of workplaces. Local organizations must be participants in local tenders and so on.

- Who do you consider to be your principal rival?

- Akhmad Kadyrov, I think.

- How do you estimate your odds for success?

- I am a pragmatic. The main thing for us has been to give publicity to our vision of the situation and problems. Our program can be called for under any president.

- What are the peculiarities of your program?

- We have limited financial resources. We gamble on live contacts with electors.

- Who are election campaigns of the other candidates going?

- I do not see any breaches. I've got no claims.

- Do you believe the votes will be fairly counted?

- Yes, I count on it. The time demands responsibility from everybody.

- What is your attitude towards the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya?

- If military men, politicians and journalists themselves call developments in Chechnya a war, then the name itself is far from perfect, to put it mildly. As for the methods, I will remind you an anecdote. Two people are in the ward. One man asks the other, "What are you doing time for?" The answer is "For robbery." "What is you term?" "5 years. And you?" "For poaching. 15 years." "Why is your term so long?" "Well, I was stunning fish: killed two carps and three divers." That is the way how things are being put in order in Chechnya.

- Are there any difficulties in the course of your election campaign?

- No. I even declined the guard. I find common language with everybody, even with opponents.