Has the question of renaming the militsiya to police been settled?
AS:I think that it has, but I wouldn’t pay too much attention to it. There are many questions on the content of this reform and it would be more positive to ponder over them. Key points of the reform – bring back district officers – bring back and reinforce operatives – give low- and medium-ranking professionals access to discussions – restore the corporate spirit of the ministry – establish local public councils – minimize the “fight against extremism”, which is hard to qualify in legal termsRT: Does the reform provide for any staff cuts? AS: Yes, there are plans to cut the Interior Ministry staff by 30 per cent. Several months ago, the president said there would be no job cuts in the Caucasus because of the difficult situation. I believe that dismissing operatives and local police officers would be bad for the Caucasus, while the leadership, economic and trade services should be cut as elsewhere in the country. At present, there’s one employee for each excise stamp. They don’t need s
