The presidents of Russia's North Caucasus republics are to ask the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, for new titles, a spokesman for Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said Friday.
"Kadyrov told the heads of the other republics about his initiative during a phone conversation this afternoon. Everyone backed the initiative and a joint appeal to the State Duma is to be drafted now," Alvi Karimov said.
Media reports on Thursday said Kadyrov had sent a letter to the Chechen parliament, proposing that his title be changed to another term meaning "regional head."
Kadyrov said there should only be one president in Russia and regional heads should have different titles. The vast majority of regional leaders are known as governors, but most of Russia's 21 republics have presidents.
A Kremlin source said that the idea to devise a common title for regional heads has been under discussion for a long time, and that the process may be launched now on a voluntary basis.
PYATIGORSK, August 13 (RIA Novosti)
