[RFE/RL] Moscow-backed Chechen chief Ramzan Kadyrov has said he is ready to resign. Kadyrov's current term of office is due to end in early April."My time has passed," Kadyrov said in an interview with government-allied NTV television. He said, "There are lots of successors on our team. We've got very good specialists."
The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov. Many in the opposition have accused Kadyrov of playing a role in Nemtsov's murder.
Kadyrov told NTV, "Nemtsov did not bother me at all, in fact. That's because he is not my level. The nation's leadership needs to find another person so that my name isn't used against my people."
Dmitry Gudkov, one of only a handful of opposition lawmakers left in the State Duma, said, "I know that, after the killing of Boris Nemtsov, the relationships between the federal government and Chechnya's leadership have worsened considerably. This explains Ramzan Kadyrov's recent hysteria toward the opposition."
Earlier this week, opposition leader Ilya Yashin released a report accusing Kadyrov of involvement in Nemtsov's killing and calling for his resignation. All five suspects arrested for the crime have ties to Chechnya and the North Caucasus.