Magomedsalam Magomedov and Rizvan Kurbanov discuss Dagestan's problems with bloggers

On July 6 at the initiative of Rizvan Kurbanov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Dagestan, a meeting with bloggers was held in Makhachkala. To the complete surprise of Livejournal's users, Magomedsalam Magomedov, the President of the republic, and Abdurashid Magomedov, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), also came to take part in the meeting.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Rizvan Kurbanov that no preliminary selection of the meeting participants had been made. On his page in the Livejournal (LJ) Rizvan Kurbanov invited everyone to come to the meeting.

12 bloggers accepted the invitation. According to Rizvan Kurbanov, the republic's leadership wants to show that authorities are open to dialogue with all sectors of the society.

"Bloggers publish information which is sometimes absent in the official media. We are ready to set up a dialogue with them, and convince them that we are ready to solve all problems which affect not only the blogosphere of Dagestan, but also the entire society," said Rizvan Kurbanov.

Many questions were asked about where people should address, if they see suspicious people. Blogger Nariman Gadjiev suggested placing near each multi-storey block a board with information on addresses and telephone numbers of the district police inspector and local authorities.

In the midst of the meeting Magomedsalam Magomedov, the President of Dagestan, came into the Rizvan Kurbanov's office. He personally spoke with the LJ's users and listened to their questions.

According to Dagestani leader, today the public opinion on the authorities is that officials here think only about their personal gain.

"It's very hard to break that stereotype. Probably, we speak up badly about our work. No one in Dagestan prohibit criticism of the authorities; however, there must be a certain limit or border, which was lost by some critics," said Magomedsalam Magomedov.

The President noted that the media and the Internet present "a lot of lie, slander and insult", adding that he is ready to respond to constructive criticism.