GROZNY. June 20 (Interfax) - Chechen Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov will officially announce his plans to join the republic's presidential race on Monday, June 21.
Alkhanov told Interfax on Sunday that this is his final decision which was made following numerous meetings with prominent Chechen figures and in response to dozens of rallies that took place across Chechnya calling on him to run in the elections.
"Meetings with both famous political and public figures and leaders of Chechen communities in Russian regions convinced me to run in the elections," Alkhanov said.
He promised to center his work on creating new jobs and reviving the republic's economy and social sector if he won the elections.
"Naturally, funds have always been allocated for these purposes. However, I received assurances from various ministries and agencies that this financing will be significantly increased," he said.
Twelve people have already announced plans to join the presidential race in Chechnya. Local observers have predicted the figure may rise to 20.
Chechen elections commission chairman Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov said that only one-half of these people will be able to submit the necessary 6,000 signatures collected in their support to be registered as presidential candidates.
--------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20040620/1dd15aa3/attachment.htm>