Translated material
Resignations made
The President of Ingushetia dismissed the entire executive branch
President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov yesterday dismissed the government of the republic. The corresponding decree does not contain a motivational part, but the head of the region himself explained that after the election of a new regional parliament on March 2, 2008, it was time for the executive branch of the republic to set “more ambitious goals”, and it was necessary to work on their solution “in a mode of constant open exchange of views with the population " Along with the ministers, all the heads of districts and settlements were fired, which, against the backdrop of constant Ingush instability , makes the resignation of the cabinet look like a small coup.This was a relatively “long” Ingush government - Ibragim Malsagov headed the cabinet of ministers in the summer of 2005. Until this moment, both under Murat Zyazikov and under his predecessor Ruslan Aushev, governments in Ingushetia sometimes changed even more often. than once a year. Mr. Zyazikov, who has spoken with pride many times about the economic achievements of the smallest North Caucasus republic, yesterday unexpectedly noted that “despite the successes, some problems remained unresolved.”
For now, Murat Zyazikov’s long-time ally, the first deputy prime minister of the dismissed cabinet, Khava Yevloyeva, who has worked in various positions in the government almost since the election of the current president of Ingushetia, is taking charge of solving this “part of the problems” as acting prime minister.
As a sign of favor, Ms. Evloeva was even included in the list of candidates for State Duma deputies from United Russia, although she had no chance of receiving a deputy mandate, since she was not on the first line of this list. But there have already been suggestions that her performance as prime minister will not last long, and the newly elected Ingush parliament will most likely confirm the only elected State Duma deputy from Ingushetia, representative of United Russia Bilan Khamchiev, as prime minister.
The latter already had experience leading the Ingush government under President Aushev. His nomination to the State Duma is believed to have been accompanied by a discussion in Ingushetia and Moscow about a possible replacement for Murat Zyazikov himself, and the current deputy was named among the potential replacements. Although the Kremlin is extremely reluctant to make personnel changes in the regions under pressure, and in Ingushetia this pressure is becoming increasingly obvious (more on this on page 4) , recently there have been signs of Mr. Zyazikov’s possible resignation.
In February, the President of Ingushetia, with the “farewell” wording “for the work performed,” was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland. Replacing an unpopular president, as the experience of other North Caucasian republics shows, can at least partially and temporarily relieve the severity of socio-political tension. Therefore, one can imagine that the resignation of the government of Ingushetia is not so much a demonstration of the strength of a politician around whom there has been too much talk about his upcoming resignation, but, perhaps, the launch of a procedure for a change of power.
If Bilan Khamchiev really sits in the prime minister's chair in Magas, it will be possible to assume with a high degree of confidence what the name of the third president of Ingushetia may be - Bilan Khamchiev. However, there are no signs yet that the updated cabinet will be headed by Mr. Khamchiev, and he is also far from the only candidate as a possible successor to Mr. Zyazikov.
Ultimately, real personnel decisions in Ingushetia are made by President Zyazikov and his administration, while the government in its current composition played a purely technical role, which is probably why it lasted so long, by Ingush standards.
If the election of a new prime minister does not mark the beginning of a change of president, everything in the republic will remain the same. The President of Ingushetia is not able to significantly change the composition of the cabinet simply because of the very short “bench of reserves”: most of the Ingush officials of this level have already been in the cabinet now or very recently; there is no real change of personnel to be expected. Consequently, the quality of the office’s work is unlikely to become significantly higher.
However, the resignation of the cabinet could have been Mr. Zyazikov’s necessary response to the criticism of his work that has intensified in recent months . In the end, Murat Zyazikov absolutely suits the federal security forces, who are fighting the terrorist underground in Ingushetia as best they can, not paying attention to the fact that the “costs” of this war are bringing more and more local residents to protest rallies. A source in the Kremlin administration confirmed that the federal center is not inclined to change the regional leader “under pressure” - such a step could only lead to an escalation of similar demands in other regions. Which, given the complex relationships between local elites, would turn into a real personnel leapfrog. Following this logic, it is worth assuming that the decision to resign could come when her expectations are not so obvious.