Thousands of Altai residents demanded the resignation of the head of the government, Turchak, at an approved rally against the destruction of village councils. According to local activist Pavel Pastukhov, up to 4,000 people came to the protest against the liquidation of the two-tier system of local government, some of them in national costumes. The protesters’ posters read “Hands off our Altai”, “We are against the occupation of our lands by oligarchs”, “Turchak resign” and “Turchak and Prokopyev – suitcase, train station, Magadan”.
Pastukhov also notes that on the day of the rally in Gorno-Altaisk, people complained about problems with the Internet. The head of the republic, Andrei Turchak, did not comment on the situation.
According to the law, Russian regions decide independently whether to maintain a two-tier system of local self-government. The Altai authorities previously proposed eliminating village councils and merging them into municipal districts.
Residents began to speak out against this initiative and the appointment of Alexander Prokopyev, a former State Duma deputy and son of the founder of the dietary supplement manufacturer Evalar, as head of the republic’s government.
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