The principle of consociality in the political life of the Republic of Dagestan in 1994-2006

This article is a part of the author's dissertation research. It highlights the complex ethnopolitical situation in the Republic of Dagestan after the collapse of the USSR, in the conditions of which the transition to a collegial form of governance of the Dagestan community based on the principle of consociality (co-social democracy) was made.The creation of the highest executive body - the State Council of the Republic of Dagestan (1994), where all the “titular” peoples of the republic were represented, was preceded by a protracted period of conflict in 1991-1994, associated with the search for the most acceptable form of national-state structure in the new historical realities. It is noted that the multi-component, segmented Dagestan community led by the leadership of the republic of that period came out of the crisis with difficulty, but very dignified and bloodless, reaching public consensus. Attention is focused on the activities of the opposition represented by various socio-political associations, including national movements, which considered the Supreme Council of the DASSR an illegitimate body, which concentrated in the period after the collapse of the USSR and before the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (July 26, 1994) the fullness of supreme power in the republic in its hands. The article reveals the position of the Supreme Council of the Republic, which prevented the consolidation of opposition forces and organized the convocation of the Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan on November 13, 1992. The historical decisions of the Congress, the processes of drafting and adopting the new Constitution of the Republic, as well as the elections of the Chairman and members of the State Council of the Republic of Dagestan are analyzed. The author comes to the conclusion that the experience of creating mechanisms for achieving national accord in a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional community, which took place in the recent history of the Republic of Dagestan, helped to preserve peace in the republic at a time when national conflicts did not stop around it in the Caucasus, and it deserves serious study and dissemination.