Article Russia: Self-Governance Granted to Caucasus Republics

(Aug. 29, 2008) On August 25, 2008, the State Duma of the Russian Federation (the lower house of the legislature) adopted a law that provides for the creation of self-government institutions in Chechnya and Ingushetia, constituent republics of the Russian Federation where, regardless of constitutional requirements, local governance was abolished by the federal authorities in 1994 because the state's conducting of antiterrorist military operations. The new law, if approved by the upper house and signed by the President of Russia, will enter into force on January 1, 2010. Until that date, a transitional period will be in effect. During this period, executive authorities of these republics will decide on municipal entities and their status and establish their borders. The gerrymandering will be finished before the spring of 2009, when the number of seats in local bodies of self-government, such as village and township councils, will be determined. Local elections are to be conducted in autumn 2009. (State Duma Passed the Law on Self-Government in Chechnya and Ingushetia, GAZETA.RU, http://www.gazeta.ru (last visited Aug. 25, 2008).)