Decorating Daudov with order shows subjectivity of grounds for awarding

By decree of Russian President, Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, has been awarded the Order For Merits to Fatherland of the 4th Degree, Ramzan Kadyrov informed on June 13. By its rewards, the Kremlin "is buying loyalty of regional elites," the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

"The Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on awarding Magomed Daudov, Speaker of Chechen Parliament speaker, the Order For Merits to Fatherland of the 4th Degree," Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, wrote in his page of the "VKontakte" social network on June 13. The decree states that Daudov was awarded "for his merits in strengthening the Russian statehood, the development of parliamentarism and vigorous law-making activities."

Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Civil Assistance Committee, was sceptical about Daudov's awarding. "This is another confirmation that in Chechnya one can do anything, threaten anyone, and this very well suits our federal government," Ms Gannushkina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that Daudov has no merits to the state from the list, given in the presidential decree on the award.

By means of such awards the Kremlin "is buying loyalty of regional groups – in this case, the Kadyrov's group," said Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst. "The situation [in the republic] is under control, but honour is never enough; therefore, another 'golden pistol' or order is needed. [Russia] has a lot of them, but what is Russia, if it has such heroes?" Mr Oreshkin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 17, 2019 at 06:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.