The post of President of Tatarstan will be renamed Rais

The post of president of Tatarstan will be renamed Raisa, a Vedomosti correspondent reports. At a meeting of the state council (parliament) of Tatarstan, the presidium introduced a bill changing the title of the head of the republic. Instead of the president, he will be called the head (Rais) of Tatarstan. Rais is the name of the title of president in Arabic and a number of other oriental languages.

On December 21, a group of deputies of the parliament of Tatarstan from the United Russia faction contributed amendments to the Constitution of Tatarstan, according to which, from January 1, the President of the Republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, as the highest official, may lose his status and be renamed the “head” of the Republic of Tatarstan.

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov called on deputies of the State Council to vote for the adoption of amendments to the bill on renaming the position of the highest official of the republic. According to him, if they are not accepted, this may negatively affect the position of the country, which “the world community is trying to split.” “We are discussing our question – how to name (the head of the republic), and people will perceive it this way – “Here Tatarstan has risen, not everything is fine with Putin. Russia will be shattered into pieces.” This cannot be allowed,” he said, speaking in the debate on the bill. In his opinion, “we must understand that Russia is fighting the entire West, this is not a conflict between Ukraine and Russia,” and this cannot be played along.

He noted that the republic has developed excellent relations with the government of the Russian Federation. “Look at the support provided to an aircraft plant, a helicopter plant, and our contacts with the federal center are important.” – he said.

“I never interfered and never asked, but today (it is important to show trust). “If we vote, we need 2/3 of the votes. If the amendments are not accepted, it will be very unpleasant. In general, this is the attitude towards me and trust in me as the president of the republic.”

Today’s bill was introduced after the day before, on December 22, members of the Committee of the State Council (Parliament) of Tatarstan on State Building and Local Self-Government recommended withdraw for revision amendments to the Constitution of the Republic on renaming the position of the head of the region.

On June 1, 2022, the law on the general principles of organizing public authority in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation came into force, according to which the heads of regions can only be called heads (any other job titles, except for the president, can appear at the regional level). After the adoption of the law in December 2021, the press secretary of the current president of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, Lilia Galimova, told the media that he would retain the previous title of the position during the “transitional period” – while bringing regional legislation into line with federal legislation.