The 1996 presidential elections in Tatarstan

Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics

Volumn 13, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 132-144

  Löwenhardt, John ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0039476106     PISSN: 13523279     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13523279708415337     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. Verkhovnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 'Opredelenie', GKPI 96-204, 10 July 1996. The request of the Tatarstan authorities to turn the matter over to the Tatarstan Procuracy, was denied by judge Fedin. See also Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22 June and 9 July 1996; Sovetskaya Rossiya, 29 June 1996; Obshchaya gazeta, 11-17 July 1996; Kommersant-Daily, 12 July 1996; and Vechernyaya Kazan, 12 July 1996.
2. Verkhovnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 'Opredelenie', GKPI 96-204, 10 July 1996. The request of the Tatarstan authorities to turn the matter over to the Tatarstan Procuracy, was denied by judge Fedin. See also Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22 June and 9 July 1996; Sovetskaya Rossiya, 29 June 1996; Obshchaya gazeta, 11-17 July 1996; Kommersant-Daily, 12 July 1996; and Vechernyaya Kazan, 12 July 1996.
3. Verkhovnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 'Opredelenie', GKPI 96-204, 10 July 1996. The request of the Tatarstan authorities to turn the matter over to the Tatarstan Procuracy, was denied by judge Fedin. See also Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22 June and 9 July 1996; Sovetskaya Rossiya, 29 June 1996; Obshchaya gazeta, 11-17 July 1996; Kommersant-Daily, 12 July 1996; and Vechernyaya Kazan, 12 July 1996.
4. Verkhovnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 'Opredelenie', GKPI 96-204, 10 July 1996. The request of the Tatarstan authorities to turn the matter over to the Tatarstan Procuracy, was denied by judge Fedin. See also Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22 June and 9 July 1996; Sovetskaya Rossiya, 29 June 1996; Obshchaya gazeta, 11-17 July 1996; Kommersant-Daily, 12 July 1996; and Vechernyaya Kazan, 12 July 1996.
5. Verkhovnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 'Opredelenie', GKPI 96-204, 10 July 1996. The request of the Tatarstan authorities to turn the matter over to the Tatarstan Procuracy, was denied by judge Fedin. See also Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22 June and 9 July 1996; Sovetskaya Rossiya, 29 June 1996; Obshchaya gazeta, 11-17 July 1996; Kommersant-Daily, 12 July 1996; and Vechernyaya Kazan, 12 July 1996.
6. Verkhovnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 'Opredelenie', GKPI 96-204, 10 July 1996. The request of the Tatarstan authorities to turn the matter over to the Tatarstan Procuracy, was denied by judge Fedin. See also Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22 June and 9 July 1996; Sovetskaya Rossiya, 29 June 1996; Obshchaya gazeta, 11-17 July 1996; Kommersant-Daily, 12 July 1996; and Vechernyaya Kazan, 12 July 1996.
7. Thomas de Waal, 'Obedient Tartar voters prepare to endorse Yeltsin', The Times, 7 June 1996.
8. Population on 1 January 1994: see M.P. Mustafin and R.G. Khuzeev, Vsë o Tatarstane: Ekonomiko-geograficheskii spravochnik (Kazan: Tatarskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo 1994), p.13. Some seventy nationalities are represented in the republic population: Respublika Tatarstan, 5 March 1996. Over three-quarters of all Tatars live outside Tatarstan. With 6,6 million souls in 1989, the Tatars are the largest ethnic 'minority' in the Russian Federation.
9. Population on 1 January 1994: see M.P. Mustafin and R.G. Khuzeev, Vsë o Tatarstane: Ekonomiko-geograficheskii spravochnik (Kazan: Tatarskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo 1994), p.13. Some seventy nationalities are represented in the republic population: Respublika Tatarstan, 5 March 1996. Over three-quarters of all Tatars live outside Tatarstan. With 6,6 million souls in 1989, the Tatars are the largest ethnic 'minority' in the Russian Federation.
10. Tatarstan Respublikasy Konstitutsiyase. Konstitutsiya Respubliki Tatarstan s izmeneniyami i dopolneniyami na 13 dekabrya 1994g. (Kazan: Tatarskoe Knizhnoe Izdatel'stvo, 1995), Articles 1 and 2.
11. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 14-15 April 1995.
12. Tatarstan Constitution, Articles 111-13; Respublika Tatarstan, 23 March 1995.
13. See Respublika Tatarstan, 11 and 25 March 1995, for lists of the newly elected State Soviet members; data analysed by V.V. Mikhailov in 'Glavy i predsedateli'; Tatarstan Constitution, Article 86.
14. See Respublika Tatarstan, 11 and 25 March 1995, for lists of the newly elected State Soviet members; data analysed by V.V. Mikhailov in 'Glavy i predsedateli'; Tatarstan Constitution, Article 86.
15. Tatarstan Constitution (see note 4), Article 143, states first that all courts are formed through the election of judges and people's assessors, and subsequently that the judges to district and city courts and to the Supreme Court 'are elected by the State Soviet of the Republic Tatarstan'.
16. Data collected by V.V. Mikhailov in 'Glavy i predsedateli'. The percentage of Tatars in 1989 was 48.5: Mustafin and Khuzeev, p.18.
17. Kommersant-Daily, 30 March 1996. The oil production of Tatarstan has declined from 103 million tonnes in 1975 to 51 million tonnes in 1985 and 30 million tonnes in 1992; in the last year Tatarstan produced 7.4 per cent of all oil in the Russian Federation: see Mustafin and Khuzeev, p.49.
18. Vechernyaya Kazan, 5 March 1996.
19. Ibid., 1 March 1996; Respublika Tatarstan, 5 March 1996.
20. Ibid., 1 March 1996; Respublika Tatarstan, 5 March 1996.
21. At the polling stations on 12 June 1991, voters were handed only one ballot paper (for the Tatarstan presidency) instead of two (Tatarstan plus Russian Federation presidency). If they wanted to vote for the Russian president, they had to ask explicitly for a ballot paper, and could expect the response. 'Are you sure you really want to vote for a Russian president?'
22. On this period, see Christian Noack, 'Tatarstan - ein Modell für die föderale Erneuerung Rußlands?, Osteuropa, 1996, No.2, pp.134-49.
23. The prime ministers of Tatarstan and the Russian Federation had agreed that for a certain period the text of some appendices would not be made public. Deputies to the Tatarstan Supreme Soviet wanting to familiarize themselves with the texts were told to read them in a special room in the presence of an officer of the Cabinet of Ministers, and were not allowed to copy the texts or to read them into a dictaphone: 'Rossiiskaya Federatsiya ili Rossiiskaya Konfederatsiya', Delovoi mir, 10-16 July 1995, p.29.
24. Total production that year was 26.3 million tonnes: see Noack, p.138.
25. 4.6 million tonnes equals 33.6 million barrels; world market price per barrel $10 to $20. At $10 per barrel the total world market value would be $336 million.
26. Lope Gerrero, 'Iz Doklada Yevropeiskogo Instituta Sredstv Massovoi Informatsii', Feb. 1994.
27. Quoted by Valentin Mikhailov, 'Nekotorye uroki vyborov v Tatarstane', Otkrytaya politika, 1995, No.4 (6) (Aug.), pp.30-35 (p.33).
28. Ibid. In Aktanysh district, for example, the turnout was 0.01 per cent in December 1993, and 89 per cent in March 1994; in Muslyumov district: 0.2 and 95 per cent; in Atninsk district: 0.0 and 99 per cent: see V.V. Mikhailov, 'Politicheskii khameleon: syurprizy rossiiskikh prezidentskikh vyborov v Tatarstane', Otkrytaya politika, 1996, Nos.9-10 (Sept.-Oct.), pp.58-62.
29. Ibid. In Aktanysh district, for example, the turnout was 0.01 per cent in December 1993, and 89 per cent in March 1994; in Muslyumov district: 0.2 and 95 per cent; in Atninsk district: 0.0 and 99 per cent: see V.V. Mikhailov, 'Politicheskii khameleon: syurprizy rossiiskikh prezidentskikh vyborov v Tatarstane', Otkrytaya politika, 1996, Nos.9-10 (Sept.-Oct.), pp.58-62.
30. Quoted in V.V. Mikhailov, 'Prava cheloveka v Tatarstane', manuscript, May 1996 (due to be published in the book Belaya kniga, Moscow, 1997); 'Federal'nyi zakon Ob osnovnykh garantiyakh izbiratel'nykh prav grazhdan Rossiiskoi Federatsii', signed by the president on 6 December 1994, in Sobranie zakonodatel'stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii, 1994, No.33, pp.4855-74; English translation in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, Special Supplement, SU/2186 S1 (23 Dec. 1994).
31. Quoted in V.V. Mikhailov, 'Prava cheloveka v Tatarstane', manuscript, May 1996 (due to be published in the book Belaya kniga, Moscow, 1997); 'Federal'nyi zakon Ob osnovnykh garantiyakh izbiratel'nykh prav grazhdan Rossiiskoi Federatsii', signed by the president on 6 December 1994, in Sobranie zakonodatel'stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii, 1994, No.33, pp.4855-74; English translation in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, Special Supplement, SU/2186 S1 (23 Dec. 1994).
32. Quoted in V.V. Mikhailov, 'Prava cheloveka v Tatarstane', manuscript, May 1996 (due to be published in the book Belaya kniga, Moscow, 1997); 'Federal'nyi zakon Ob osnovnykh garantiyakh izbiratel'nykh prav grazhdan Rossiiskoi Federatsii', signed by the president on 6 December 1994, in Sobranie zakonodatel'stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii, 1994, No.33, pp.4855-74; English translation in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, Special Supplement, SU/2186 S1 (23 Dec. 1994).
33. 'Rossiiskaya Federatsiya ili Rossiiskaya Konfederatsiya', p.29.
34. Both laws had been signed at the end of November 1994 and had been in force since 7 December 1994. The group of deputies was represented and led by Valentin Mikhailov, chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Federalism of the State Duma Committee on Federalism and Regional Policy.
35. V Konstitutsionnyi Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Zapros o sootvetstvii Konstitutsii Rossiiskoi Federatsii i Federal'nomu zakonu 'Ob osnovnykh garantiyakh izbiratel'nykh prav grazhdan Rossiiskoi Federatsii' Zakona Respubliki Tatarstan 'O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan' i Zakona Respubliki Tatarstan 'O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov mestnykh Sovetov narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan'. The document was signed in November 1995 and delivered to the Constitutional Court on 4 January 1996; copy in the possession of the author.
36. Zakon o Referendume Respubliki Tatarstan. Prinyat na sed'moi sessii Verkhovnogo Soveta Respubliki Tatarstan dvenadtsatogo sozyva 29 noyabrya 1991 goda (S dopolneniem po sostoyaniyu na 21 fevralya 1992 goda)' (Kazan: Tatarskoe gazetno-zhurnal'noe izdatel'stvo, 1992). 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan (ot 13.05.1991g. No.916-XII) O vyborakh Prezidenta Respubliki Tatarstan. S izmeneniyami i dopolneniyami na 16 dekabrya 1995 goda' (Kazan, 1996). Also in Byulleten' tekushchego zakonodatel'stva i pravoprimenitel'noi praktiki, 1995, No.4 (Oct.-Dec.) (Kazan, 1995), pp.23-52; 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan', Vybory GosSovet 1995, pp.9-28; 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan ot 30.11.94g. No. 2248-KhP O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov mestnykh Sovetov narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan', Byulleten tekushchego zakonodatel'stva i pravoprimenitel'noi praktiki, 1994, No.4 (Oct.-Dec.) (Kazan, 1994), pp.36-63.
37. Zakon o Referendume Respubliki Tatarstan. Prinyat na sed'moi sessii Verkhovnogo Soveta Respubliki Tatarstan dvenadtsatogo sozyva 29 noyabrya 1991 goda (S dopolneniem po sostoyaniyu na 21 fevralya 1992 goda)' (Kazan: Tatarskoe gazetno-zhurnal'noe izdatel'stvo, 1992). 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan (ot 13.05.1991g. No.916-XII) O vyborakh Prezidenta Respubliki Tatarstan. S izmeneniyami i dopolneniyami na 16 dekabrya 1995 goda' (Kazan, 1996). Also in Byulleten' tekushchego zakonodatel'stva i pravoprimenitel'noi praktiki, 1995, No.4 (Oct.-Dec.) (Kazan, 1995), pp.23-52; 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan', Vybory GosSovet 1995, pp.9-28; 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan ot 30.11.94g. No. 2248-KhP O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov mestnykh Sovetov narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan', Byulleten tekushchego zakonodatel'stva i pravoprimenitel'noi praktiki, 1994, No.4 (Oct.-Dec.) (Kazan, 1994), pp.36-63.
38. Zakon o Referendume Respubliki Tatarstan. Prinyat na sed'moi sessii Verkhovnogo Soveta Respubliki Tatarstan dvenadtsatogo sozyva 29 noyabrya 1991 goda (S dopolneniem po sostoyaniyu na 21 fevralya 1992 goda)' (Kazan: Tatarskoe gazetno-zhurnal'noe izdatel'stvo, 1992). 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan (ot 13.05.1991g. No.916-XII) O vyborakh Prezidenta Respubliki Tatarstan. S izmeneniyami i dopolneniyami na 16 dekabrya 1995 goda' (Kazan, 1996). Also in Byulleten' tekushchego zakonodatel'stva i pravoprimenitel'noi praktiki, 1995, No.4 (Oct.-Dec.) (Kazan, 1995), pp.23-52; 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan', Vybory GosSovet 1995, pp.9-28; 'Zakon Respubliki Tatarstan ot 30.11.94g. No. 2248-KhP O vyborakh narodnykh deputatov mestnykh Sovetov narodnykh deputatov Respubliki Tatarstan', Byulleten tekushchego zakonodatel'stva i pravoprimenitel'noi praktiki, 1994, No.4 (Oct.-Dec.) (Kazan, 1994), pp.36-63.
39. In the parliamentary elections of 5 March 1995, in 25 out of 130 districts the ballot contained just one name; in 17 of these 25 that single candidate was the district's chief of administration: V Konstitutsionnyi Sud ... , p.8.
40. Respublika Tatarstan, 30 March 1996.
41. Vechernyaya Kazan, 23 Jan. and 1 March 1996.
42. Interview with Anatolii P. Vasil'ev, 23 June 1996.
43. The full statement appeared in Vechernyaya Kazan, 7 March 1996.
44. Vechernyaya Kazan, 1 March 1996. In RiZ, the Tatarstan branches of Yabloko, Democratic Choice of Russia and the Democratic Party of Russia joined forces.
45. Vechernyaya Kazan, 22 March 1996.
46. 'Federal'nyi zakon O vyborakh prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii', signed by the president on 17 May 1995 (Moscow: Yuridicheskaya literatura, 1995).
47. 'Zaklyuchenie o nablyudenii za khodom pervogo tura vyborov prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii 1996 goda v Respubliki Tatarstan, Gruppa Mezhdunarodnykh Nablyudatelei-grazhdan stran SNG', Moscow, 25 June 1996; 'Short-Term Observers Debriefing Report, First Round Russian Presidential Elections, Kazan': OSCE/ODIHR Regional Office, 17 June 1996; 'Election for the president of the Russian Federation; Final statement of the OSCE/ODIHR Observer Mission', Moscow, 18 June 1996; in this statement, Tatarstan was singled out as 'the most serious cause for concern'.
48. 'Zaklyuchenie o nablyudenii za khodom pervogo tura vyborov prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii 1996 goda v Respubliki Tatarstan, Gruppa Mezhdunarodnykh Nablyudatelei-grazhdan stran SNG', Moscow, 25 June 1996; 'Short-Term Observers Debriefing Report, First Round Russian Presidential Elections, Kazan': OSCE/ODIHR Regional Office, 17 June 1996; 'Election for the president of the Russian Federation; Final statement of the OSCE/ODIHR Observer Mission', Moscow, 18 June 1996; in this statement, Tatarstan was singled out as 'the most serious cause for concern'.
49. 'Zaklyuchenie o nablyudenii za khodom pervogo tura vyborov prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii 1996 goda v Respubliki Tatarstan, Gruppa Mezhdunarodnykh Nablyudatelei-grazhdan stran SNG', Moscow, 25 June 1996; 'Short-Term Observers Debriefing Report, First Round Russian Presidential Elections, Kazan': OSCE/ODIHR Regional Office, 17 June 1996; 'Election for the president of the Russian Federation; Final statement of the OSCE/ODIHR Observer Mission', Moscow, 18 June 1996; in this statement, Tatarstan was singled out as 'the most serious cause for concern'.
50. 'Zaklyuchenie o nablyudenii ...', pp.7-8.
51. Ibid., p.2.
52. A Bai (outside Tatarstan and Central Asia: Bey) is a rich landowner or wealthy boss or despot. In the Aktanysh district, Yeltsin received 24 per cent of the vote, Zyuganov 65 per cent: 'Svodnaya tablitsa ob itogakh golosovaniya po Respublike Tatarstan', Kazan, 18 June 1996.
53. President Shaimiev had shown himself quite flexible in his loyalties earlier, both in August 1991 and in September-October 1993: see Mikhailov, 'Politicheskii khameleon ...', p.9.
54. Interview with N.N., member of a rural territorial electoral commission in Tatarstan, Kazan, 7 July 1996.
55. In Arsk district, Yeltsin received 44.9 per cent of the vote, and Zyuganov 44.3 per cent; see also note 37.
56. First round: turnout 73.7 percent; Yeltsin 39.43 percent of valid votes, Zyuganov 39.18 per cent. Second round: turnout 77.5 per cent; Yeltsin 63.09 per cent, Zyuganov 33.17 per cent: 'Protokol Izbiratel'noi komissii Republiki Tatarstan ob itogakh golosovaniya na territorii Respubliki Tatarstan', Kazan, 18 June 1996; 'Protokol Izbiratel'noi komissii Republiki Tatarstan (Tatarstan) ob itogakh golosovaniya na territorii Respubliki Tatarstan (Tatarstan)', Kazan, 5 July 1996.
57. First round: turnout 73.7 percent; Yeltsin 39.43 percent of valid votes, Zyuganov 39.18 per cent. Second round: turnout 77.5 per cent; Yeltsin 63.09 per cent, Zyuganov 33.17 per cent: 'Protokol Izbiratel'noi komissii Republiki Tatarstan ob itogakh golosovaniya na territorii Respubliki Tatarstan', Kazan, 18 June 1996; 'Protokol Izbiratel'noi komissii Republiki Tatarstan (Tatarstan) ob itogakh golosovaniya na territorii Respubliki Tatarstan (Tatarstan)', Kazan, 5 July 1996.
58. Mikhailov, 'Politicheskii khameleon ..., p.6.
59. Ibid.
60. Interview with N.N., Kazan, 7 July 1996; see note 39.