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Mr Putin drew Mr Veshnyakov’s attention to the fact that fears were voiced abroad that the population was poorly informed of the draft constitution and the law on the election of president of Chechnya. It was necessary, he said, to print as many of these documents as required in order that all citizens of the Chechen Republic had the text of the constitution and were able to express their opinion during the referendum based on their knowledge of these documents. President Putin offered to help the republic’s administration in addressing that problem. He stressed that the task of the authorities was to make it so that everybody knew what the matter was about and for or against what they would vote.

Mr Veshnyakov reported that as many as 50,000 copies of the constitution had already been printed. They would be distributed throughout the republic and in refugee camps. President Putin said that this quantity was not enough and expressed the conviction that all citizens of the republic, even those under 18 years of age, were interested to know and adopt a constitution on Chechnya.

The adoption of the constitution would enable the republic to form its bodies of authority, to uphold the interests of its citizens in a responsible way and to take over the tackling of problems of life in the republic. Like all executive bodies of authority, they must exercise full powers, the President stressed.

President Putin also asked about the attitude to the text of the constitution abroad. Mr Veshnyakov answered that the texts of the constitution and law on the election of president of Chechnya had been sent to the OSCE and received a positive response.