Election campaign in Chechnya free of irregularities

An election campaign in Chechnya, which on August 29 will be going to an early presidential ballot, is running smoothly, with no breaches of the law, Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, chairman of the republican election commission, told RIA Novosti over the telephone on Monday.

"No complaints or critical statements about the campaign have been forthcoming," he said.

Currently, he added, the commission is examining a situation due to one presidential hopeful's intention to put his publicity spots on the air instead of taking a personal part in televised debates, something which the other contenders object to.

The head of the election commission recalled that the Chechen and Grozny state radio and television companies allocated air time for seven candidates for the Chechen presidency. Every day two television channels devote half an hour to demonstrating electoral filmlets and television debates between the candidates. Half of the air time is given over to the debates, he added.

Besides, for electioneering purposes, 15 state-owned and six private newspapers appearing in the republic have provided their columns for the campaign.

The presidential election in Chechnya will be an early one because of the death of Akhmad Kadyrov in a terrorist attack at the stadium in the capital, Grozny, on May 9.