Dagestani Head Steps Down
// Vertical of Power
Dagestani leader Magomedali Magomedov is stepping down before his term expires. He announced the news to the press at the airport in Makhachkala on his way back from Moscow where he had met President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. He tendered his resignation to the president who upheld his move, though not immediately. Unofficial sources say that Magomedov suggested Mukhu Aliev as his successor.
The resignation was quite unexpected given that Magomedali Magomedov, 75, had been at the helm of Dagestan since 1984. Madomedov went to talk to the press after his plane landed in Makhachkala yesterday. He said that he had come to Moscow to inform the Russian president of his decision to leave the seat of the chairman of the State Council before his term expires. Deterioration health prompted the resignation, the Dagestani leader said. Mr. Putin agreed to support the decision and suggest an early resignation of the republic’s head to the People’s Council of Dagestan.
Mr. Magomedov also noted that he already has a successor in his mind who he had mentioned to the president. The official declined to name the person to the press, though. Magomedali Magomedov and law enforcement officials went to a close-door meeting of the State Council to discuss a new would-be Dagestani leader. Though no official information was given, various sources report that Mukhu Aliev is the most probable successor. The press service of the Dagestani State Council and Government said that the nominee for the chairman of Dagestan’s State Council may be announced on Friday.
Yulia Rybina, Makhachkala
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 17, 2006
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