Category Archives: Bashkortostan

Bashkortostan

SP in disputed areas and other territories (11) – Bashkortostan

Another Russian Republic with a brief semi-presidential past is Bashkortostan.

The Constitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan was adopted on 24 December 1993. Unlike certain equivalent constitutions, the semi-presidential nature of Bashkortostan was unequivocal.

Art. 93 stated that the President shall be elected on the basis of universal suffrage and Art. 98 made it clear that impeachment was the only way to remove the President.

Art. 101 stated that the President forms the government and appoints the Prime Minister with the consent of the State Assembly.

Art. 102 stated that the government may request a vote of confidence and that it may be subject to a vote of no-confidence. The same article stated that if the vote of no confidence was passed, then the President shall dissolve the government and a new government shall be formed within two weeks.

There were three direct presidential elections in Bashkortostan, the first in 1993, the second in 1998, and the third in 2003. On each occasion, Murtaza Rakhimov was elected. RFE/RL reports that in December 2003 President Rakhimov won 43 per cent of the vote at the first round and 78 per cent at the second, so the election was quite competitive. In 2006 Rakhimov was appointed president under the new Federal legislation that ended direct elections at the sub-national level. So, as with the other Russian Republics, Bashkortostan is no longer semi-presidential.