He said the Shari'a courts would supersede the constitutional court. In December, parliament voted to introduce a state of emergency, but turned down the president's request for partial mobilization of reservists. The move was aimed at curbing crime and at militant warlords opposed to the government. Political Rights and Civil Liberties Residents of Chechnya have the political means to change the government. The 1997 presidential elections were reasonably free and fair.
Parliament remains weak and ineffectual.
In 1993, then President Dudayev suspended parliament, and though it was eventually restored, power remains in the hands of the president, and there were indications in late 1998 that President Maskhadov would dissolve the body again. The media is subject to government control and persecution. Newspapers have been arbitrarily closed. In December, the government announced that Russian and foreign journalists had to re-register. In November, the Kavkaz independent TV company was banned by the prosecutor-general's office, but the ban was suspended by the Shari'a Court.