Chechnya is Preparing for Referendum

As many as 2,000 Russian and Chechen flags have been made for the coming referendum on the draft Constitution of the Chechen republic which has been scheduled for March 23.

As the RIA Novosti correspondent was told in the administration of the republic, the flags will be hung up in the streets of the Chechen capital and in villages. In Grozny itself posters on the occasion have already appeared on public buildings and in the streets. All the mass media in the republic, including twenty-six newspapers, television and radio stations, have joined the campaign in favour of the referendum.

The Chechen Ministry of Press and Information has reported that in the almost inaccessible mountainous districts, which do not receive either television or radio signals because of the long distance and the difficult relief of the locality, mobile relay television stations are being built which will inform the local population about the preparations for and the holding of the referendum.

According to the data at the disposal of the Chechen Central Election Commission, 537,000 voters have been registered in the republic. At the present time the district election commissions are verifying the lists of the constituents.