Positions of Magomed Suleimanov are not weaker after departure from Acting Mayor of Makhachkala

The conflict of the head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov and the former Acting Mayor of Makhachkala Magomed Suleimanov has brought no serious losses to either party, said the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They saw here the authorities' intention to put a person without ambitions to the post of the Mayor.

On June 25, Abdulatipov said that Suleimanov lost the confidence of the republic's leadership and should resign as Acting Mayor of Makhachkala. On July 9, Suleimanov voluntarily resigned and was appointed to the post of the Director of the Territorial Fund of Mandatory Medical Insurance. Then, Abusupyan Gasanov, the first deputy head of the city administration, was appointed Acting Mayor of Makhachkala.

According to Magomed Abdurashidov, a junior researcher at the Division of Sociology of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Gasanov was a temporary figure.

Suleimanov was an ideal figure for Abdulatipov; and the reason for his resignation is unclear, said Rasul Kadiev, a lawyer and a blogger.

Ramazan Radjabov, an observer of the edition "Novoe Delo", believes that there are two main scenarios under which the Mayor of Makhachkala will be searched for. Either it will be an official without any obvious political ambitions, controlled by the republic's authorities; or "a powerful figure, who will clean Makhachkala from Amirov's supporters."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.