Opposition formulates main tasks for new head of Ingushetia

The acting head of Ingushetia, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, needs to eliminate tension in the society and restore trust in the authorities; his main task is to cancel the border agreement with Chechnya, the Ingush protest activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of the head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Evkurov, and appointed Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov as acting head of Ingushetia.

The release of all the arrested Ingush activists and the return of direct elections will help to return the above trust to the Ingush society; and the future head of the region will win the society's support, Magomed Mutsolgov, a well-known Ingush human rights defender, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In his opinion, the first thing Mr Kalimatov should do is to release all the arrested participants and leaders of the people's protests, and stop the pressure on activists. After that, he will have a chance to hold dialogue with the society, Mr Mutsolgov believes.

He also noted that the next step, aimed at consolidating the society with the authorities could be the imposition of a moratorium on the Chechen-Ingush border agreement.

Beyal Evloev, the Chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Policy and Use of Environment of the Ingush People's Assembly (Parliament) of Ingushetia, believes that the main task of the acting head of the republic should be to establish the reasons of the tension in the society.

According to his version, in order to stabilize the situation in the region, Kalimatov will have to launch a reasonably built work with the healthy opposition, and help to stop the persecution of leaders of protest actions.

"I believe that Mr Kalimatov's main task is the cancellation of the Ingush-Chechen border agreement not through the Parliament, but through judicial bodies," Mr Evloev has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 28, 2019 at 04:52 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.