council of elders

2 Posts

•

0 Followers

council of elders

North Caucasus elder councils call for return of elections for republic heads

by OC Media

•2 min read

The councils of elders of Karachay and Ingushetia have called for the return of direct elections for heads of republics in the North Caucasus. They say this will strengthen the link between the government and the civil society. Elections to the executive branch of local governments were scrapped in all republics of the North Caucasus except for Chechnya after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law in April 2013 authorising Russian federal subjects to abolish direct elections for h

council of elders

Pankisi Elder: the Georgian government needs to choose a side

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•8 min read

Zaur Gumashvili, chairman of the board of Pankisi’s Council of Elders, discussed with OC Media the fading role of Elders in the valley, the rise of the Salafi movement, the subsequent cultural decline, and an action plan how to stop it. Since the 1990s, Pankisi Valley, in the northeast of Georgia, has attracted international attention as a wild and dangerous place, due to it’s association with Chechen fighters, drug trafficking, and violence. Although nowadays Pankisi is a peaceful rural