Tatarstan opposes federal draft law on retitling the republic’s president

The State Council of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, the region’s legislature, has refused to support a draft law that would retitle the republic‘s president.

The bill, which was submitted to the State Duma in late September, proposes establishing “head” as the standardized title for all of Russia’s regional leaders. Tatarstan is the only Russian region where the leader is called the “president.” 

According to Tatarstan’s State Council, the provisions of the bill “contradict the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation as a democratic, federal, law-based state.” The decision not to support the bill was adopted unanimously.

The head of the State Council’s committee on state building and local self-government, Albert Khabibullin, also urged State Duma lawmakers from Tatarstan to support the regional legislature’s position, reports Business Online. 

The legislation proposing standardizing the titles of regional leaders was written by two State Duma lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party: Andrey Klishas, head of the Federation Council, and Pavel Krasheninnikov, the head of the State Duma committee for constitutional legislation and state-building. Crucially, the bill suggests lifting the two-term limit for the heads of Russia’s regions and gives the president more power to influence them.