Residents of Makhachkala hold action demanding authorities' non-interference in election of Kayakent District Head

About 100 residents of the Kayakent District gathered in the square in front of the White House in Makhachkala. They sent several representatives to President of Dagestan to demand to grant residents the right to freedom of expression at election of the head of the district. The rest of the rally was driven by militiamen away from the square towards the park.

The "Caucasian Knot" was informed by Gasan Gasanov, a resident of Kayakent, that the voters of the Kayakent District are under pressure. "People are not allowed to make their choice," he said and warned if they were not given a civilized chance to vote for whomever they want, then "people would block the railway and the Federal Highway "Kavkaz", and not 100 but 3000 would come to Lenin Square in Makhachkala." "They shouldn't offer money to us; we'll not vote for money," said Gasanov.

Let us remind you that along with the election of deputies of the National Assembly, the Kayakent District holds all-people election of the head of the district. The main candidates are the acting head Ilmiyamin Magomedov and deputy of the District Assembly Ilmudin Gamzaev.

"The candidates for the head of the district are invited to the White House and persuaded to recall the candidacy of one of them in favour of the other," said Magomed Yunusov, a Kayakent resident. In his opinion, the action in the square was not a rally or a picket, but an attempt to delegates from villages of the Kayakent District to meet the republic's authorities.

As reported by Kazbek Magomedov, a resident of Usumikent village, he was expressing the viewpoint of over three hundred residents of his village who delegated him to Makhachkala and noted that "people support Ilmudin Gamzaev."

By about two in the afternoon, the protesters dispersed. According to Gasan Gasanov, their representatives were met in the Dagestani White House by the Speaker of the People's Assembly of Dagestan Magomed-Sultan Magomedov, who assured the delegates of the Kayakent District that the republic's authorities would not allow any interference of any outsider into the election of the head of the Municipal Formation "Kayakent District" and asked the residents not to block the federal highway and the railway.