Dukuvakha Abdurakhmanov, the Chechen parliament’s speaker, said that several new titles had been considered, including “imam” and “mekhk-da” (the father of people). “However, taking into consideration the fact that Chechnya is a subject of the Russian Federation, we have decided to propose the ‘head of the republic title’,” he said.

Some observers assumed that the federal center had decided to introduce one title for the republics’ leaders, but Kadyrov said at the parliament’s session on Thursday that the renaming was his own initiative. “I thought it would be helpful for the state in which we live and it will work to strengthen it,” he added.

He added that he started to think about this move when he visited Syria, Turkey and other countries as a member of the delegation headed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

After the countries’ presidents were presented, it was a turn of the presidents of Russian republics, Kadyrov said, adding that it was not pleasant for him to hear this. “Then I thought the country should have only one president,” he noted.

Medvedev said on August 30 that Russian republics and other subjects of federation should decide for themselves what to call their heads. The names can be different, he told Rossiya 1 TV channel.

The president added he would not object to the idea. But the initiative must come from the regions “because we have a federation here,” he stressed. “Each region has specific features of its own,” he noted.

Sergey Borisov, RT