DAGESTAN
Magomedov reelected amid growing violence and tension
On 25 June Dagestan's Constituent Assembly elected a State Council and reelected
the incumbent State Council Chairman, Magomedali Magomedov. He received
162 of the 242 votes cast. (Interfax, 1049 GMT, 25 Jun 98; FBIS-SOV-98-176)
Members of the assembly voted under very tense circumstances. Interior ministry
troops sealed off the center of Makhachkala where soldiers with machine
guns and grenade launchers guarded the government buildings. (NTV, 0600
GMT, 25 Jun 98; FBIS-SOV-98-176) Since the attempted coup in May, explosions,
assassinations, abductions and other acts of violence and terror have become
increasingly frequent. In June alone, there were several attacks against
military targets in Dagestan, including a helicopter division of the border
troops, an OMON division and a military convoy. (Nezavisimaya gazeta, 25
Jun 98) (For more detail on the May coup attempt, see
Editorial Digest, Vol. 3, No. 8.)
The Constituent Assembly is composed of deputies from Dagestan's legislature
and representatives of local and regional governments. In accordance with
the 1994 constitution, the process of choosing the highest republican executive
authority is indirect and open to manipulation by the entrenched interests.
Magomedov's critics charge that the existing system, managed through back
room deals and intrigues, unfairly prohibits others from participating and
perpetuates the corruption, poverty, and violence that has characterized
Dagestani life in recent years. Various public figures, ranging from Nadir
Khachilaev, the Duma deputy who led the May coup, to Ramazan Abdulatipov,
the vice premier of the Russian government, have suggested that Dagestan
would be better served by direct elections of a republican president. Some
have conjectured that the two were working together. (Moskovskiye novosti,
24-31 May 98; FBIS-SOV-98-177)
Magomedov, a Dargin, has wielded political power in Dagestan since Soviet
times and was elected chairman of the State Council in 1994. When his term
expired in 1996 no elections were held due to the tensions and hardships
caused by the war in neighboring Chechnya. As a result, Magomedov has governed
for a term of four years although he was elected for only two years in 1994.
The constitution was amended on 19 March 1998 to make Magomedov's reelection
possible. On that occasion the People's Assembly repealed Article 93 of
the constitution which prohibited persons of the same nationality from occupying
the position of State Council chairman for two consecutive terms. (See Magomedkhan
Magomedkhanov, "Rents in the Fabric of Government," Perspective,
Vol. 8, No. 4, March-April 1998.) The original intention was to rotate the
highest executive position among the deputies of the 14 constituent nationalities
represented on the State Council. That provision was an important component
of the delicate power balance among the different nationalities of Dagestan.
Its repeal brought closer the danger of inter-ethnic strife.
On the eve of the election Izvestia speculated that Magomedov would have
been elected even under democratic procedures. The paper suggested that
the majority of Dagestanis fear the militant tactics of the opposition more
than they disapprove of the continuous decline of their republic under the
existing leadership. That seems like a reasonable conclusion in view of
all the violence that the republic has already endured and suggests that
the refusal to hold national elections was extremely shortsighted. Little
has been achieved other than the alienation of members of the opposition
from the peaceful political process.