Experts treat inclusion of Ramazan Abdulatipov in list of "Edinaya Rossiya" Party as manipulation of voters

When he was nominated to the State Duma from the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party and later gave up a mandate, Ramazan Abdulatipov had the goal to ensure votes for Gadjimet Safaraliev, who was not enough familiar for voters. However, all the above was unnecessary taking into account the administrative resource of the ruling party. This opinion was voiced by experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that, according to the official figures released by the election commission, in Dagestan, 88.86% of voters gave their voices to the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party at the elections to the State Duma, and 75.51% of voters at the elections to the Parliament of Dagestan. Dagestani leader Ramazan Abdulatipov was listed in the first line in the list of the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party; however, but after the voting, he refused a mandate and gave it to Gadjimet Safaraliev, the second number from the list.

According to Gadjimurad Sagitov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Novoye Delo", formally, by mentioning Ramazan Abdulatipov in the first line in the party list, the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party tried to increase the number of gained votes and to secure support for Gadjimet Safaraliev.

The second name from the list of the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party in Dagestan is not charismatic enough, believes political analyst Ruslan Kurbanov, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). According to Ruslan Kurbanov, the elections do not reflect the real attitude of residents of Dagestan towards Ramazan Abdulatipov.

The Dagestani leader was nominated to the State Duma was because of his own desire, but by the request of the leaders of the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party, believes Magomed Magomedov, an observer of the Dagestan weekly newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft).

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