Everything is honest, without deception

Lezgin billionaire elected senator from Dagestan

The People's Assembly of Dagestan yesterday supported the candidacy of Suleiman Kerimov (pictured) , who will now represent the southernmost Russian republic in the Federation Council. Mr. Kerimov, 41, will replace former prime minister Atay Aliyev, an ethnic Kumyk who led the Dagestani government in the final years of the region's former leader, Magomedali Magomedov.

In essence, Atay Aliyev represented in the Federation Council the former Dagestan government, which had noticeably lost ground in less than two years of Mukhu Aliyev’s presidency. But Suleiman Kerimov, who occupies 72nd place in the ranking ofthe richest people in the world , is not only a potential sponsor of various republican projects, but also an influential figure in Southern Dagestan, who periodically tries to restrainedly oppose the new head of the region. The fact is that one of the first steps of Mukhu Aliyev after his confirmation as the Dagestan president was the dismissal of the permanent prosecutor of the republic, Imam Yaraliev, who managed to mobilize a number of South Dagestan municipalities against Mr. Aliyev.

This opposition, however, turned out to be not very strong: by the elections to the national assembly in March 2007 , Mukhu Aliyev had regulated his relations with most of the districts . The “southerners” tried to enter the people’s assembly, relying on the “Patriots of Russia” party, supported by the mayor of Makhachkala, Said Amirov, who is also trying to maintain an independent role in Dagestan politics. But the results of the Patriots were insufficient to influence the parliamentary majority.

As a result, Southern Dagestan never became the stronghold of a strong opposition group, as the Avar “Northern Alliance” was in the last years of Magomedali Magomedov’s reign. But the Lezgin factor remains important in Dagestan domestic politics. Lezgins constitute the ethnic majority in a number of areas adjacent to the Russian-Azerbaijani border, as well as in parts of the provinces of Northern Azerbaijan. During the Great Caucasian War, the Lezgins were a big problem for the imperial army on the Left flank of the Caucasian line, and in the 1990s, the Lezgin national movement “Saadval” even put forward the slogan of a sovereign Lezgistan. Although now the voice of “Saadvala” no longer sounds so menacing, the nomination of an eminent Lezgin to the Federation Council is a respectful gesture towards the Lezgin community.

However, most likely, Mr. Kerimov, with the support of Mukhu Aliyev and the deputies of the People's Assembly, resolved the issue of his immunity, which is important in light of the recent attack by law enforcement agencies on another Caucasian oligarch, Mikhail Gutseriev. Until now, Mr. Kerimov was a deputy of the State Duma, to which he was elected on the LDPR list, but promptly received a “bearish” party card . Mr. Kerimov was not on the Dagestan list of United Russia for the December 2 elections - either the billionaire’s social affiliation or the scandalous story about the car accident he got into a year ago in France with a married Russian TV star played a role. Either the list simply did not have enough “passable” places for everyone.

But Mukhu Aliyev, who did not insist on including Suleiman Kerimov on the Duma list, decided not to risk his valuable connections in vain, especially since the entrepreneur had already agreed in 2007 to allocate $100 million in aid to the republic. As a result of yesterday's vote, Mr. Kerimov moved from the lower house of the Federal Assembly to the upper house, where his colleague will be another representative of large Caucasian business, the Chechen Umar Dzhabrailov .

However, depriving senators of immunity in Russia is not much more difficult than deputies: the competent authorities only need to ask the consent of those who nominated this or that member of the Federation Council. And in modern times, regional legislative assemblies are hardly suitable as a barrier in the event that senators have problems with law enforcement agencies.

Ivan SUKHOV