Paul Goble
Staunton, Nov. 11 – The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Ingushetia has long been a thorn in the side of Magas and Moscow, having regularly ruled in favor of population and against the government on such sensitive issues as the 2018 land deal with Chechnya and money for the medical needs of the Ingush people.
Republic head Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov has long wanted to disband the court because of its independence and fact that it is led by a member of Yabloko. He unsuccessfully tried to do so in 2020 (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/09/kalimatov-moves-quietly-to-liquidate.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/09/ingush-parliament-rejects-kalimatovs.html).
But now he has Moscow completely on his side. Putin’s amendments to the constitution say that no federal subject may have a constitutional court, and a federal law specifies the rest must be disbanded by January 1, 2023. Consequently, Kalimatov appears likely to get his and Moscow’s way (caucasustimes.com/ru/v-ingushetii-nachalsja-process-uprazdnenija-konstitucionnogo-suda/).
At least formally, only the republic legislature can take this action; and it was the body that opposed doing away with the republic Constitutional Court earlier. Debates over there are certain to be intense, and they are likely to spread into the population given how much support the Court has there.
Many Ingush remember to this day that the current head of the court publicly declared that when the government violates the law or the constitution, the people as the source of sovereignty must be prepared to act to defend their rights against the state (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/11/ingush-people-must-act-when-powers-dont.html
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