MAKHACHKALA, February 16 (RIA Novosti) - The State Council chairman of the Russian North Caucasus republic of Daghestan announced his resignation Thursday.

"I have made the decision to resign early as chairman of Daghestan's State Council," said Magomedali Magomedov, whose term expires in summer 2006.

Magomedov, 75, who started his career as a school teacher and took ministerial positions in then-Soviet Daghestan, was first elected Chairman of the State Council, the republic's top executive body, in 1994, reelected for a second term in 1998 and for a third term in 2002.

State Council members are elected by the legislature, rather than in a general election. This procedure is believed to have helped maintain relative peace in the republic, which is home to at least 40 ethnic groups and is surrounded by troubled former Soviet republics. The body consists of 14 members who represent 14 major ethnic groups.

Magomedov has been credited with maintaining peace in the multi-ethnic republic, which, however, has suffered occasional terrorist attacks from neighboring Chechnya. However, the republic has been experiencing an economic decline in recent years. Once a vibrant economy, Daghestan has been largely living on federal subsidies and living standards have worsened dramatically for the majority of the local population.

The opposition has pointed to massive corruption and the failure to curb crime as major problems facing the republic.