The State Council of Tatarstan decided to immediately relieve the President of the Republic of this post

The bill on renaming the position of the President of Tatarstan was adopted in the first reading, writes regional edition of Realnoe Vremya. 78 deputies voted for changes to the constitution of the republic. Eight opposed, one abstained.

Albert Khabibullin, Chairman of the State Council Committee of the Republic on State Building and Local Self-Government, proposed abandoning the transition period and starting to use the new name immediately after the law in question comes into force.

According to him, this will be a logical continuation of the issues discussed at the meeting on December 27, 2022 – then the parliamentarians adopted a law on amendments to the basic law of the republic regarding the title of the position of the highest official of the region.

It followed from it that Minnikhanov would retain the position of “president” for the duration of the transition period – until the end of his term in 2025. Only after 2025 should he be called the “head – rais of Tatarstan” (rais is the title of president in Arabic and a number of other eastern languages).

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 (at the level of constituent entities of the Federation, any other job titles, except for the president, can be used).

On December 27, 2021, Minnikhanov himself, commenting on the adoption of the law by the State Duma, recalled that the parliament of Tatarstan (as well as some of its representatives in the State Duma) opposed a number of norms in the law, but noted that “law-abiding people live in the republic.”

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov previously refused to comment on the decision of the Tatarstan parliament to rename the post of president of the republic, urging respect for this decision. “No, I can’t, but why evaluate it. This is the decision of the legislative body of Tatarstan, it must be treated with respect,” pointed out Kremlin representative.

“Sooner or later it [изменение название должности] should have happened, – says Doctor of Political Sciences Oleg Zaznaev. “And it’s been that way for a long time.” According to him, the course towards the unification of the names of the leaders of the regions must be maintained to the end, since it has begun.

Minnikhanov is one of Russia’s “guides” in the Islamic world, businessman Farid Miftakhov, ex-Deputy of the State Council, believes: the word “rais” means leader. In their eyes, Minnikhanov appears not just as the head of one of the 89 regions.”