Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, spoke at the rally in Magas

Press Release, 26.03.2019

A rally against amendments to the constitutional law on referendum is held in the city of Magas, the capital of the Republic of Igushetia, today.  If the amendments are adopted, this will allow the leadership of the republic to resolve issues of the region’s borders without consent of the residents of Ingushetia.

About 20,000 participants, which makes up a seventh part of the total adult population of the Republic, have gathered today in the central city square. According to Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, who arrived in Magas to support the peaceful civil protest, a small town with a population of less than 9,000 people was completely filled by cars, as people from all over the Republic came to participate in the rally.

Despite the fact that the rally was taking place in a peaceful and friendly atmosphere, which rules out any conflicts between the participants, online communication between citizens was hampered as access to the Internet was blocked. For the same reason, a few hours after the start of the rally, the broadcast of the rally and speeches on YouTube was interrupted.

Yabloko was the only political party represented at the protest action. Ruslan Mutsolgov, leader of the Ingush branch of Yabloko, was one of the organisers of the rally, along with other members of the coalition of political and civil forces of the Republic – the National Unity Committee.

Photo: Ruslan Mutsolgov

Speaking to citizens gathered at the rally, Ruslan Mutsolgov insisted that people should not be politically passive. The leader of the Ingush Yabloko urged people to take power into their own hands, since the people are the only source of power, and this provision is enshrined in the Constitution. Mutsolgov called on the residents of Ingushetia to prepare for the upcoming autumn elections to the municipal bodies of power. “The situation in Ingushetia proves the failure of the regional leadership and the federal centre,” Ruslan Mutsolgov said.

Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, also spoke at the square in front of the protesters. In his speech, Rybakov drew attention to the need to continue fighting for political changes in the country: for direct election of heads of republics, abolition of the municipal filter [when candidates from non-parliamentary parties have to gather signatures of municipal deputies in their favour so that to be able to register in the election campaign] and the inviolability of citizens’ rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov

“Russia has an absolutely clear procedure for such issues as the transfer of territories which should be decided in a referendum. Now we see that the law was not only violated, they even want to change it, introducing completely bureaucratic amendments to it, which will prevent people from deciding their destiny. I am certain, that all territorial issues should be resolved exclusively in a referendum, the authorities should use any democratic mechanisms so that people do not feel abandoned or unheard, so that to prevent growth of social tension or hatred between nations,” Nikolai Rybakov said.

The issue of territorial integrity has been especially troubling for the residents of Ingushetia recently, since last Fall the heads of the two neighboring republics – Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, head of Ingushetia, and Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Chechnya, – signed an agreement on securing the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya. Then the lands of the Sunzhensky district of the Republic of Ingushetia became a part of Chechnya, which caused widespread discontent among the residents of Ingushetia.

Nikolai Rybakov concluded his speech as follows: “Let us not forget that we are all citizens of one country, and whatever government we may have, I believe that we can come to an agreement among ourselves peacefully, without violence and insults. No boundaries are worth human blood.”

According to Ruslan Mutsolgov, citizens of the Republic do not plan to leave the square until their demands are fulfilled.