Experts: upcoming elections provoke growing tension in Dagestan

The situation in Dagestan is more and more strained with the approaching October 10 elections, experts say. But the elections are just a catalyst, but the situation in the country is heavy without them, they emphasize.

As stated by Ahmed Azimov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Russian Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus, the situation is dramatically heating up in the districts, where elections of deputies to the municipal level will take place.

"Serious signals already come from the republic - virtually in every district, where they plan these elections, social seams are stretched to the limit. The republic is 'overheated' in expectation of the elections," Mr Azimov said in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot".

According to Maxim Shevchenko, a member of the Russian Public Chamber and head of the working group for promoting social dialogue and civil society institutions in the Caucasus, an example of this "overheating" is, in particular, the situation in the Babayurt District of the republic.

Nariman Gadjiev, a Dagestani journalist and blogger, has noted that elections are usually causing a certain effect on the domestic situation, and Dagestan in this case is no exception. "When some actions are held before elections, people immediately appear who benefit from them. Suspicions appear that terror acts are organized by those who want to disrupt the elections."

In his opinion, at the background of the upcoming elections relations between rival clans will also worsen in the country.