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Chechen Leader Kadyrov Denies Political Ambitions

23 January 2012 23:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov told journalists he had no plans of making further political career and seek higher posts, APA reports quoting Ria Novosti.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Southern Russia peoplesâ€™ forum, Kadyrov said he â€œnever planned to go farther than where I stand at the moment.â€

"If I fulfill my task, if Iâ€™m able to quit politics properly, it will be a great joy to me,â€ he said. â€œBut â€œquitting properlyâ€ doesnâ€™t mean I want to quit right now. It means that the republic is gradually achieving its goals.â€

The Chechen leader also said he had been vested with â€œgreat responsibility.â€

â€œThatâ€™s why I have no such plans [of seeking another high-ranking post] and Iâ€™m not going to plan anything like that in the future,â€ he added.

When asked to comment on the possible outcome of the forthcoming March 4 presidential elections, he said that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has no real rivals in the polls and is likely to win in the first round.

â€œWho else do we have? We have no other candidates. Others are losers. If I was one of them, I would have never made a single public appearance, I would have worked at home,â€ Kadyrov said.

The turnout in the December 4, 2010 legislative elections in the North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya hit 99.51 percent, of which 99.48 percent of the votes were cast for the ruling United Russia party.

Early last year a website appeared on the Internet to promote Kadyrovâ€™s candidacy for the post of the Russian president. The website headlined Ramzan Kadyrov - Russian President in 2012 praised Kadyrov’s achievements in improving the republic’s economy and security and promoted him as an appropriate candidate in the Russian presidential elections due in 2012.

Kadyrov strongly denied any links of his administration to the website and said the .com domain zone website was registered in a Western country.