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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Dagestan to let Putin pick governor
2013-04-19
Russia's Dagestan region scrapped popular elections for governor on Thursday to allow President Putin to pick its leader under a new law that some call a setback for democracy.
That pretty well describes all of Russia, doesn't it?
Dagestan was the first province to make use of the law, signed by Putin this month, allowing each of Russia's 83 regions to scrap direct gubernatorial elections, introduced just last year as a concession to a wave of protests against Putin's dominance.

Putin has staked his reputation on the success of the 2014 Winter Olympics next February in the resort city of Sochi, close to the North Caucasus. The Kremlin is worried that elections there could cause unrest or bring in candidates whose loyalty is in question.

Putin fired Dagestan's governor in January and named Soviet-era politician Ramazan Abdulatipov, whom critics view as having deeper political ties to Moscow than to his native province, as acting governor.

Popular elections of governors were started after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin abolished them during his previous 2000-2008 presidency, citing the need for more control after deadly attacks by militants based in the North Caucasus.They were reintroduced last year in a concession to street protests by Russians.
Posted by:ryuge

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