Bashkortostan
The current leaders of Bashkortostan came to power in 1990, on the heels of the
second purge of the republic’ s communist party in four years. The Supreme Soviet elected Murtaza Rakhimov as its new chairman by a single vote. Rakhimov, the director of an Ufa petrochemical plant, had never been a member of the party
nomenklatura. After the collapse of the communist party he quickly set about consolidating his authority by removing rivals from powerful positions. Rakhimov’ s primacy was made of®cial by his election to the republic presidency in 1993. His hold
on power was further strengthened after the election of a compliant legislature in
1995.