31 October 2008, 18:22
Murat Zyazikov's resignation was inevitable, experts say
Resignation of Murat Zyazikov from the post of President of Ingushetia was inevitable, since it was too obvious that he had lost control over situation in his Republic and exhausted the patience of federal authorities, as Russian analysts regard.
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin kept following his principle "not to betray his guys" and defended Zyazikov up to the last, but "people were shot dead every day in Ingushetia", while the industry growth rate went down, according to Russian official statistics by 27 percent; this was the comment made by Russian political scientist Dmitri Oreshkin to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
In his opinion, Zyazikov's dismissal means "a signal that the authorities try to control the situation." Mr Oreshkin sees a minus of Medvedev's decision in the fact that a certain "unknown military" was appointed as acting president. "Ingushetia is a sovereign state, and more respect could have been expressed to the people here," said the political scientist.
"Every nation should have a chance to generate its political elite. In the Caucasus, they managed it in Adygea; they are not shooting there, Cossacks somehow get on with Adygs, however, the voter turnout is not 100 percent," said Dmitri Oreshkin.
The political scientist has noted that earlier President Ruslan Aushev was a great authority in Ingushetia, but Moscow did not like him. Aushev was accused of helping Chechen militants. Actually, Oreshkin believes, Aushev pursued his independent policy and did not allow federal authorities "to act without control."
Yulia Latynina, an independent political analyst and journalist, also thinks that Zyazikov's dismissal was caused by the fact that "terrorism in Ingushetia is an everyday phenomenon", and Premier Putin's bowl of patience got run over. In particular, Ms Latynina notes that it could happen when a column of Russian servicemen was shelled in Ingushetia. "The losses of federal troops in Ingushetia are comparable with those in Georgia," she added.
Today, the Parliament of Ingushetia has authorized Yunus-Bek Evkurov with the powers of the President of the Republic; earlier he was nominated to the post by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.
The ITAR-TASS details that 16 out of 18 MPs present at the session have voted for Evkurov, 45, one voter was against and one ballot paper was nullified.
Author: Anastasia Kirilenko, CK correspondent