19:33, 24 January 2018

Caucasian Forum on direct elections disrupted in Pyatigorsk

An eagle statue on a spur of Mountain Goryachaya in Pyatigorsk. Photo: Alen Katin https://ru.wikipedia.org

The organizers of the forum on the return of direct elections in Northern Caucasus have been notified that they will not be able to hold the event in Pyatigorsk on January 27. The forum will be held later in Moscow in a different format, the organizers – the Russian Congress of Caucasian Nations (RCCN) and the Interregional Public Organization "New World" – have decided.

In April 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law authorizing the subjects of the Russian Federation to abolish direct elections of regional heads. After that, direct elections were cancelled in all the republics of Northern Caucasus, except for Chechnya.

"The aim of the forum is to consolidate the efforts of politicians and public figures, who stand for the return of direct elections in Northern Caucasus," the RCCN has stated in the "VKontakte" social network.

It had been planned that the forum would be attended by politicians, experts and delegations from Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Dagestan – about 300 people in total.

"According to delegates, in some regions, officials exerted pressure on them not to go to the forum," Shamil Djamaludinov, a members of the organizing committee of the forum, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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

Author: Asya Kapaeva

Source: CK correspondent