1.
Unicameralism
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In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism, many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with limited regional autonomy, unicameralism often prevails. Unicameral legislatures are also common in official Communist states such as the Peoples Republic of China, similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were bicameral, the two chambers were the Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. The Russian Federation retained bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR, the principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it costs, even if the number of legislators stay the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain. There is also the risk that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented, approximately half of the worlds sovereign states are currently unicameral, including both the most populous and the least populous. Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures, and all of the Brazilian states. In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Congress of Deputies of Second Spanish Republic was unicameral between 1931 and 1936. Dissolved at the end of Spanish Civil War, the actual Spanish Parliament is bicameral, Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan was unicameral before being replaced in 2005 by the current, bicameral Supreme Assembly. National Assembly of Cameroon was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, chamber of Peoples Representative of Equatorial Guinea was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, bicameral Parliament of Equatorial Guinea. National Assembly of Kenya was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kenya in 2013. National Assembly of Ivory Coast was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Ivory Coast in 2016. Nebraskas state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a unicameral chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted, if those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015
2.
Renewal (Transnistria)
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Renewal or Renovation, is a political party in Transnistria. Since the legislative elections of 2005 it is the majority party in the Transnistrian Parliament, in the legislative elections of 10 December 2000, Renewal won 7 out of 43 seats. The organization improved on 11 December 2005 to win 23 of those 43 seats and it was officially registered as a full political party in June 2006. The original name of the party, in Russian, is Obnovleniye which can interchangeably be translated as either Renovation, the party itself and most foreign press prefers the latter translation, Renewal. The partys leaders in parliament during 2005 were Mikhail Burla and Yevgeny Shevchuk, the latter was elected speaker of parliament following the partys sweeping December 2005 win. There was a debate regarding the position of Renewal in regards to Transnistrian president Igor Smirnov, however, others claim that the interests of the Smirnov clan are represented in all political movements of Transnistria, including Renewal. Renewal strengthened their majority in the 2010 elections to 25 seats, in the 2011 presidential election, deputy party chairman Anatoliy Kaminski ran against incumbent Smirnov and Shevchuk, who ran as an independent. Shevchuk defeated Kaminski in the run-off, as on 2013 Renewal holds majority in the Supreme Council of Transnistria and is in mild opposition to the current President Yevgeny Shevchuk. On 25 December 2012 the Supreme Council voted against the project of the budget proposed by the government. Thus Transnistria is currently functioning without adopted state budget for the first time in its history, in spite of attempts to find compromise and formation of the joint commission to resolve conflict, these attempts did not lead to any results. Renewal, Pridnestrovies reformist opposition party Obnovlenie. info
3.
Pridnestrovie Communist Party
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The Pridnestrovie Communist Party, also spelled Pridnestrovian Communist Party, is a communist party in Transnistria. The Pridnestrovie Communist Party is the successor to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was banned for part of the 1990s and its leader is Oleg Khorzhan, who has been called young and dynamic by Olvia Press, in contrast to the conservative Communist Party of Pridnestrovie headed by Vladimir Gavrilchenko. Although it fielded candidates for parliament in the elections of 11 December 2005. It supports independent statehood for Transnistria and opposes the administration of president Yevgeny Shevchuk, nadezhda Bondarenko, editor of the party newspaper Pravda Pridnestrovya and member of the central committee, was its candidate for the December 10,2006 presidential election. She received 8. 1% of the vote, second to Smirnov, Khorzhan and Bondarenko were arrested on March 11,2007, when handing out leaflets ahead of an anti-Smirnov rally and sentenced to three-days detention as an administrative punishment. On March 13, a Communist demonstration took place in Tiraspol against growing consumer prices and energy tariffs, Communist Party of Pridnestrovie Party Website
4.
Tiraspol
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Tiraspol is internationally recognised as the second largest city in Moldova, but is effectively the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The city is located on the bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a hub of light industry, such as furniture. The modern city of Tiraspol was founded by the Russian generalissimo Alexander Suvorov in 1792, the city celebrates its anniversary every year on October 14. The toponym consists of two ancient Greek words, Τύρας, Tyras, the Ancient name for the Dniester River, and polis, i. e. a city. Tyras, also spelled Tiras, was a colony of the Greek city Miletus, probably founded about 600 BC, of no great importance in early times in the 2nd century BC, it fell under the dominion of indigenous kings whose names appear on its coins. It was destroyed by the Thracian Getae about 50 BC, in 56 AD the Romans restored the city and made it part of the colonial province of Lower Moesia. A series of its coins exist that feature heads of Roman emperors from Domitian to Severus Alexander, soon after the time of the latter, the city was destroyed again, this time by the invasion of the Goths. Its government was in the hands of five archons, a senate, a popular assembly, the images on its coins from this period suggest a trade in wheat, wine and fish. The few inscriptions extant are mostly concerned with trade, such ancient archeological remains are scanty, as the city site was built over by the great medieval fortress of Monocastro or Akkerman. During the Middle Ages, the area around Tiraspol was a zone between the Tatars and the Moldavians, and inhabited by both ethnic groups. The Russian Empire conquered its way to the Dniester River, taking territory from the Ottoman Empire, in 1792 the Russian army built fortifications to guard the western border near a Moldavian village named Sucleia. Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov is considered the founder of modern Tiraspol, the city took its name from Tyras, the Greek name of the Dniester River on which it stands. In 1828 the Russian government established a house in Tiraspol to try to suppress smuggling. The customs house was subordinated to the chief of the Odessa customs region and it began operations with 14 employees. They inspected shipments of bread, paper, oil, wine, sugar, fruits, after the Russian Revolution, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created in Ukraine in 1924, with Balta as its capital. The republic had Romanian, Ukrainian and Russian as its official languages and its capital was moved in 1929 to Tiraspol, which remained the capital of the Moldavian ASSR until 1940. In 1940, following the provisions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
5.
Transnistria
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The region is considered by the UN to be part of Moldova. The PMR controls a narrow strip of territory to the east of the River Dniester, unrecognised by any United Nations member state, Transnistria is designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status, or Stînga Nistrului. As part of agreement, a three-party Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarised zone. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem and it is the only country still using the hammer and sickle on its flag. After a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine, all Transnistrian companies that seek to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities and this agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine took force in 2005. Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship, but many Transnistrians also have Russian and Ukrainian citizenship, the largest ethnic group is Moldovans, who historically had a higher share of the population, up to 49. 4% in 1926. Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia are post-Soviet frozen conflict zones and these four partially recognised states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations. The region is known in English as Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria. Etymologically, these names are adaptations of the Romanian colloquial name of the region, the documents of the government of Moldova refer to the region as Stînga Nistrului meaning Left Bank of the Dniester. The name of the according to the Transnistrian authorities is Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The short form of name is Pridnestrovie. Pridnestrovie is a transliteration of the Russian Приднестровье meaning by the Dniester, indo-European tribes had for millennia inhabited the area where Transnistria now is when it was a borderland between Dacia and Scythia. The Tyragetae inhabited the area around the River Dniester as well as the Scythians, early Germanic and Turkic tribes were present in the area during their attacks and invasions of the Roman Empire. From 56 AD, the area around the city of Tyras was occupied by the Romans for nearly four centuries. Tyras enjoyed great development during Roman times, there is a series of its coins with heads of emperors from Domitian to Alexander Severus, but in the second half of the fourth century the area was continuously attacked by barbarians and the Roman legionaries left Tyras. In the early Middle Ages, Slavic tribes of Tivertsi and Ulichs populated larger areas, including Transnistria, followed by Turkic nomads such as the Petchenegs and Cumans. Possibly an early part of Kievan Rus, after the Mongol invasion of Europe in 1241, prince of Moldavia George Ducas built a court at Țicanova on the east bank of the Dniester, and one at Nimirov on the Southern Bug, last mentioned in Moldavian hands in 1765. The localities Dubăsari, Rașcov, Vasilcău, as well as four other currently in Ukraine are mentioned in 17th–18th centuries as fairs for the Dniester-Bug region
6.
Politics of Transnistria
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Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, formally, Transnistria has a multi-party system and an unicameral parliament, called the Supreme Council. The president is elected by popular vote, political parties from Moldova do not recognize the Transnistrian government and do not participate at elections organized by it. As shown by results, between 1989 and 2004 the population in Transnistria decreased by 18%. This is significantly higher than the decrease of population in the Republic of Moldova, data issued by Transnistrian authorities show that of the 555,500 inhabitants, a total of 394,861 are registered to vote, down 5. 6% from a year earlier. There is disagreement as to whether elections in Transnistria are free, western organizations, such as the OSCE, have declared that no democratic elections can take place in the region under the present circumstances and have refused to even monitor them. According to Chişinău-based Vremea, there is now a whole generation of people in Transnistria who see Chişinău only as something negative and they were released after few days in custody, no charges being made against them. In November 2006, the Moldovan press reported that the offices of the Rîbniţa district committee of the Communist Party in Transnistria were closed by the local Transnistrian authorities, the Communist Party of Moldova condemned the act and claims it was closed under false pretenses. Some parties and publications were banned, power to the People Party led by Nicolae Butchatsky was banned in February 2002. On November 14,2001, the Transnistrian customs service banned the distribution of the publication Glas Naroda, election results have been contested by some, as in 2001 in one region an undisclosed source reported that Igor Smirnov collected 103. 6% of the votes. Nevertheless, some organizations, such as CIS-EMO, have participated and have called them democratic, in Transnistria, the president is elected directly, while in Moldova, the president is elected by the parliament, the political structure of Moldova being a parliamentary republic. The number of Transnistrian holding Moldovan citizenship is disputed, however,2004 Transnistrian census data puts the official number of Transnistrians with Moldovan citizenship at 107,600 people. Transnistria does not allow the organisation of Moldovan elections in Transnistrian territory, polling stations were organised only in those areas of Transnistria under Moldovan government control. Political parties from Moldova have organisations in Transnistria but refuse to participate in elections organized by the de facto Republic and they participate only in the elections of the Republic of Moldova. In 2005 Moldovan parliamentary elections nine special polling stations were organised near the Dniester for guest voters coming from Transnistria who wished to vote in the Moldovan elections, around 8000 citizens voted there, who were included in supplementary voter rolls. Due to large turnout of Transnistrian voters queues were formed and some voters didnt manage to vote
7.
President of Transnistria
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The President of Transnistria is the highest elected official of Transnistria, a small unrecognized country which declared independence from Moldova in 1990. The president of the republic is the head of state and is also commander in chief of its armed forces. As per the Constitution of Transnistria, he represents the country abroad. The current President is Vadim Krasnoselsky, since 16 December 2016 and he was elected in the 2016 election. Politics of Transnistria Prime Minister of Transnistria Official PMR presidential site Unofficial presidential website
8.
Supreme Council (Transnistria)
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The Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is the parliament of Transnistria. The unicameral legislature consists of 43 seats, all of which are determined by single mandate constituencies and it is headed by a chairman. As Transnistria was not a region before the declaration of its independence. This meant that all government authorities had to be formed from scratch, Igor Smirnov was elected chairman of the Provisional Supreme Council in March 1990. After Smirnov was elected Chairman of the Republic on 29 November 1990 he was succeeded by Vladimir Gonchar, on 25 November 1990, the first legislative elections to the Supreme Council of PMR took place in Transnistria. The first Supreme Council was bicameral, it consisted of two chambers - the Council of the Republic and the Council of Nationalities, the Supreme Council was elected for a five-year term and consisted of 64 deputies. On 30 January 1991, the Supreme Council elected native-born Transnistrian of Moldovan origin Grigore Mărăcuţă as its chairman, after referendum in 1995 and the adoption of the second Constitution of Transnistria, the composition of the Supreme Council changed. The Council of the Republic was replaced by the Chamber of Legislators, the second Supreme Council was elected for a five-year term and consisted of 67 deputies. Elections to the second Supreme Council took place on 24 December 1995, in 2000 amendments were made in the Constitution of PMR leading to new change in the organization of the Supreme Council. It became unicameral and consisted of 43 deputies, until 2005, the chairman of the parliament was Grigore Mărăcuţă, but following the election victory of the opposition party Renewal the new chairman became Renewal party leader Yevgeny Shevchuk. In 2009, President Igor Smirnov set up a commission to draft a new constitution, on 22 July 2009, Shevchuk resigned as speaker and was succeeded by Russian-born ethnic Ukrainian Anatoly Kaminski, also from the Renewal party. Shevchuk cited the proposed constitution as a major factor as to why he resigned. He defeated both Smirnov and his former colleague Kaminski in the 2011 presidential elections, following his defeat in the elections Kaminski resigned both as speaker and as head of the Renewal party. He was succeeded by Mikhail Burla, an ethnic Ukrainian, most of the members of parliament are native-born Transnistrians. According to official PMR data,22 of the 43 members of the parliament were born in PMR, while four were born in Moldova, seven were born in Russia, six in Ukraine and four did not declare. Igor Smirnov Vladimir Gonchar Grigore Mărăcuţă Yevgeny Shevchuk Anatoly Kaminski Mikhail Burla Vadim Krasnoselski Official website Parliament summary
9.
Government of Transnistria
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Transnistria is headed by a president, the current president is Yevgeny Shevchuk. They are served by a cabinet of ministers, which is headed by the Prime Minister, Transnistria uses a semi-presidential system, where the president is head of state and the prime minister is head of government. Transnistria used to have a president, but this position was abolished after the 2011 elections. The last vice president was Aleksandr Korolyov, source, The Supreme Council or Supreme Soviet is the parliament of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Government of Moldova Politics of Transnistria Politics of Moldova Government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
10.
Transnistrian presidential election, 2011
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A presidential election was held in Transnistria on 11 December 2011. A run-off was held on 25 December 2011, incumbent president Igor Smirnov, running for re-election, had been in power since Transnistria declared independence in 1990, and was not term-limited. Candidate registration was open from 11 September to 11 November, on 14 September, opposition MP and former speaker of the Supreme Council Yevgeny Shevchuk was the first to nominate himself at the CEC. Shevchuk is affiliated with Renewal, who are already supporting Kaminski, Shevchuk had been followed by Pridnestrovie Communist Party chairman and MP Oleg Khorzhan, as well as newspaper editor Andrey Safonov, who was also a candidate in the 2006 election. On 28 September, Breakthrough founder and MP Dmitry Soin also nominated himself as a candidate, first round An exit poll taken showed Smirnov in the lead with 47. 38%, with opposition vote split between Shevchuk and Kaminski. Transnistrian law requires a majority to be elected, meaning a round would be necessary. After the election, the incumbent Smirnov called for the results to be scrapped due to irregularities, announcement of results was postponed from 12 December to 14 December. Preliminary results showed that Smirnov was only in place with 25. 5%, with Shevchuk at 39%. Kaminski is reportedly Russias preferred candidate, run-off A run-off was held on December 25 and according to a source in the Central Election Commission of Transnistria quoted by RIA Novosti Shevchuk won it after garnering 74% of the votes. His rival Anatoliy Kaminskiy received only 20% and acknowledged his defeat
11.
Transnistrian legislative election, 2010
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A legislative election was held in Transnistria on 12 December 2010. All 43 seats of the Supreme Council of Transnistria were up for election, Transnistria uses first past the post with 43 single seat constituencies. In preparation for the election, boundaries of the constituencies were reviewed and revised in September 2010. The Supreme Council passed a resolution on 27 October to invite international observers to monitor the election, observers present included representatives from Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Germany and Poland. According to official data,22 of the 43 members of its parliament were born on the territory of PMR, according to the results, overall turnout was 43%, with Constituency #11 reporting 70. 1%, the highest in the country. In this district, Sheriff founder Ilya Kazmaly swept the vote, the lowest turnout was in Constituency #2, with 29. 3%. Results for 42 constituencies were announced on 13 December, with one recount going on, in Constituency #27. The election here was won by Oleg Vasilaty, who took 35. 84% of the vote, only more than the number of votes against all. According to the results, Renewal has won the election. Yevgeny Shevchuk, Mikhail Burla and Anatoliy Kaminski, leaders of Renewal, were among those elected, the Pridnestrovie Communist Party got its first seat in parliament after its leader Oleg Khorzhan was elected in Constituency #40, defeating Renewal deputy leader Olga Gukalenko. The Supreme Council held its first session in the new composition on 29 December 2010, in this session, Anatoly Kaminski was re-elected as speaker
12.
Referendums in Transnistria
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Referendums in Transnistria, according to the Transnistrian Constitution, are one of the lawful forms of expression of peoples will. There have been seven referendums in Transnistria since 1989, because of strict requirements only six of these seven referendums were successful. 95. 8% voted in favor of the creation of the PMSSR, on March 17,1991, the Soviet Unions Union-wide referendum was held on the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form. Although Moldova boycotted the referendum, it was observed by the authorities of Transnistria, as in other parts of the Soviet Union where the referendum was held, a majority of the voters supported the retention of the renewed Soviet Union. December 1,1991, was held the first referendum on independence of the now-renamed Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic outside the Soviet Union. Voter turnout was 78%, and 97. 7% voted in favor of full independence,26 March 1995, was held a referendum asking the populated about the permanence within Transnistrias borders of remaining troops from the former 14th Russian Army. More than 90% supported a stay of Russian troops in Transnistria,24 December 1995, was held the constitutional referendum on the adoption of Transnistrias new 1995 Constitution and request for accession to the Commonwealth of Independent States. 81. 8% approved the new constitution which declared independence from Moldova, april 6,2003 was held the constitutional referendum on the introduction of private land ownership. This was ruled invalid, since voter turnout was less than the 50% required by law, september 17,2006 was held the second independence referendum of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Voter turnout was 78. 6%, substantially more than the 50%+1 required by law to validate the referendum, yes,3. 3% - No,94. 9% - Invalid/undecided,1. 8% History of creation and development of the Parliament of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
13.
Political status of Transnistria
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This declaration sought to establish a Soviet Socialist Republic separate from the Moldavian SSR, while still part of the Soviet Union. No United Nations member country recognizes the PMRs bid to sovereignty, Moldova lost de facto control of Transnistria in 1992, in the wake of the War of Transnistria. Since that time, the PMR has received recognition only from Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The two main parties in Transnistria, the Republican Party and Renewal oppose any rapprochement with Chişinău. Only three polities recognize Transnistrias sovereignty, which are themselves largely unrecognized states, Abkhazia, South Ossetia. All four states are members of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations, although ethnic Moldavians have historically made up a large minority of the population, the area was never considered part of the traditional lands of Moldavian settlement. By this time, the Principality of Moldavia had been in existence for almost five hundred years with the Dniester marking its boundary for all this time. The national poet Mihai Eminescu, in his famous poem Doina, indeed, between 1929 and 1940, Tiraspol was the capital of the Moldavian ASSR, an autonomous republic within Ukrainian SSR, which existed from 1924 to 1940. According to PMR advocates, the territory to the East of the Dniester River never belonged either to Romania, nor to its predecessors and this territory was split off from the Ukrainian SSR in a political maneuver of the USSR to become a seed of the Moldavian SSR. In 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR was proclaimed in the region by a number of conservative local Soviet officials opposed to perestroika and this action was immediately declared void by the then president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. At the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova became independent, the Moldovan Declaration of Independence denounced the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and declared the 2 August 1940 Law of the USSR on the establishment of the Moldavian SSR null and void. A2010 study conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder showed that the majority of Transnistrias population supports the separation from Moldova. The Republic of Moldova considers itself the successor state to the Moldavian SSR. By the principle of integrity, Moldova claims that any form of secession from the state without the consent of the central Moldovan government is illegal. It considers the current Transnistria-based PMR government to be illegitimate and not the rightful representative of the regions population, the Moldovan side insists that Transnistria cannot exist as an independent political entity and must be reintegrated into Moldova. However, it should be noted that, due to Transnistrias limited recognition as a state, therefore, it is possible that many Transnistrians possess a Moldovan passport for practical reasons, rather than as an expression of wishing to reunify with Moldova. These localities are, commune Cocieri, commune Molovata Nouă, commune Corjova, commune Coşniţa, commune Pîrîta, the village of Corjova is in fact divided between PMR and Moldovan central government areas of control. Roghi is also controlled by the PMR authorities, at the same time, some areas which are situated on the right bank of the Dniester are under PMR control
14.
International recognition of Transnistria
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International recognition of Transnistria – a disputed region in Eastern Europe located between Moldova and Ukraine – is controversial. Although Transnistria declared independence in 1990, no United Nations member recognises its sovereignty, as of 2011, only Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and South Ossetia recognise its independence, all themselves states with limited recognition. Despite not officially recognizing Transnistrias independence, Russia has established a consulate in the disputed territory, in 1990, a Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR was proclaimed in the region by a number of conservative local Soviet officials opposed to perestroika. This action was declared void by the then president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova, including Transnistria, the PMR side said Moldovas declaration of independence was ill-conceived and that it considers the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to be null and void. During the 1992 War of Transnistria some villages changed hands between the PMR government and Moldova proper, PMR forces have often clashed with Moldovas representatives. Government documents from Transnistria state that the republic has established and maintained relations with countries seeking recognition. It sought to have relations with foreign countries and international organizations, especially those of Europe. The pro-European orientation was a consequence of an understanding of fundamental values of the world civilization. A lot of Pridnestrovian foreign interests lie in this area, the importance of a harmonic inclusion of Pridnestrovie into the international democratic community makes necessary an active cooperation. Transnistrias goal was to rest on the European experience in the future for its political, economic, scientific and technical. Transnistria is member state of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations, the government of Moldova does not actively prevent or seek to prevent representatives of other states from interacting with the government of Transnistria. List of states with limited recognition Kosovo independence precedent List of diplomatic missions of Transnistria List of diplomatic missions in Transnistria Foreign relations of Transnistria
15.
Transnistria War
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Fighting intensified on 1 March 1992 and, alternating with ad hoc ceasefires, lasted throughout the spring and early summer of 1992 until a ceasefire was declared on 21 July 1992, which has held. The conflict remained unresolved, but in 2011 talks were held under the auspices of the Organization for Security, however, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the territorial changes resulting from it have remained in place. It represents slightly more than one tenth of Moldovas territory, in the Moldavian SSR, as in many other parts of the Soviet Union, national movements became the leading political force. According to John Mackinlay and Peter Cross, who conducted a study based on casualty reports and they suggest that the conflict is more political in nature. On 31 August 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR enacted two laws, one of them made Moldovan the official language, in lieu of Russian, the de facto official language of the Soviet Union. It also mentioned a linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity, the second law stipulated the return to the Latin Romanian alphabet. Moldovan language is the used in the former Soviet Union for a virtually identical dialect of the Romanian language during 1940–1989. On 27 April 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR adopted the tricolour flag with the Moldavian coat of arms and changed the national anthem to Deșteaptă-te. The national anthem of Romania since 1989, later that year the words Soviet and Socialist were dropped and the name of the country was changed to Republic of Moldova. This possibility caused fears among the Russian-speaking population that it would be excluded from most aspects of public life, from September 1989, there were strong scenes of protests in the region against the central governments ethnic policies. The language laws presented a particularly volatile issue as a proportion of the non-Moldovan population of the Moldavian SSR did not speak Moldovan. The problem of the language in the MSSR had become a Gordian knot, being exaggerated and, perhaps. Some described the laws as discriminatory and criticized their rapid implementation. Others, on the contrary, complained the laws were not followed, on 2 September 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed, Pridnestrovie being the name for Transnistria in Russian. On 22 December 1990 president Gorbachev signed a decree that declared void the decisions of the Second Congress of People Deputies of Transnistria from 2 September, for two months, Moldovan authorities refrained from taking action against this proclamation. Transnistria became one of the republics that appeared throughout the USSR, alongside Abkhazia, South Ossetia. These unrecognized states maintained close ties with each other, the first clash between the Moldovan government and separatists occurred on 3 November 1990 in Dubăsari. A police detachment was dispatched to clear a roadblock placed by the city residents on the bridge over the river Dniester that effectively cut the city off from the central government, in the resulting shootout, three residents of Dubăsari were killed, the first casualties of the conflict
16.
Human rights in Transnistria
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The state of affairs with human rights in Transnistria has been criticized by several governments and international organizations. The Republic of Moldova, and other states and non-governmental organizations claim that the government of Transnistria is authoritarian and has a record of arbitrary arrest and torture. With the stated aim of rectifying its human rights record and bringing it in line with European standards, in July 2007 the European Parliament, in a decision without juridical power, condemned the “strict and frequent” violation of human rights by the Transnistrian separatist authorities. According to an U. S. Department of State report referring to year 2006, authorities reportedly continued to use torture and arbitrary arrest and detention. In Transnistria authorities limited freedom of speech and of the press, authorities usually did not permit free assembly. In the separatist region of Transnistria the authorities continued to deny registration, the separatist region remained a significant source and transit area for trafficking in persons. Homosexuality was illegal, and gays and lesbians were subject to governmental and societal discrimination, several alleged crimes by the paramilitary forces of the Transnistrian government remained uninvestigated. The chairman of the Moldovan Helsinki Committee for Human Rights claimed that 20 people were killed in the village of Chiţcani,5 km south of Tiraspol, between 1996 and 2000. He said that no government authority investigated these deaths because Moldova has no access to the village, According to a human rights report by the US Department of State, prisons in Transnistria are said to be harsh. Transnistrian authorities harassed independent media and opposition lawmakers, restricted freedom of association and of religion, Transnistrian authorities have regularly harassed and often detained persons suspected of being critical of the regime for periods of up to several months. The Transnistria militia had reportedly explained they had detained the boys to clean the city of people before the December legislative elections. Alternative viewpoints were stifled by widespread censorship According to the same U. S. Department of State report for 2006, there was one independent weekly newspaper in Bender and another in the northern city of Rîbniţa. Separatist authorities harassed independent newspapers for reporting of the Transnistrian regime. Most television and radio stations and print publication were controlled by Transnistrian authorities, four schools of the six that taught the Moldovan language using Latin script were closed by the authorities, who claimed the schools refused to apply for official accreditation. The schools were later reopened amid pressure from the European Union, the OSCE mission to Moldova urged local authorities in the Transnistrian city of Rîbniţa to return a confiscated building to the Moldovan Latin script school located in the city. The unfinished building was nearing completion in 2004, when Transnistria took control of it during that years school crisis, one of the most high-profile cases involved Ilie Ilaşcu, who was convicted in 1993 of killing two Transnistrian officials. He was initially sentenced to death by Transnistrias Supreme Court and this was repealed to a life prison sentence. Three other associates were sentenced to 12 to 15 years’ imprisonment, Ilaşcu was released in 2001, following a decision of the European Court of Human Rights, while the other three were released in 2004 and 2007 when they finished serving their sentences
17.
Politics of Moldova
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The politics of Moldova takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, wherein the prime minister heads the government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament, the judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The position of the region of Transnistria, relations with Romania and with Russia. The Moldovan Parliament has 101 members, elected for a term by proportional representation. The president is elected for a term by parliament. The seat of the legislature is simply as the Parliament Building. In the 2010 Parliamentary election, the Communists won 42 seats, while the Liberal-Democrats won 32, the Democratic Party won 15, and this gave the Alliance for European Integration 59 seats, two short of the 61 needed to elect a President. The result thus maintained the status quo following the constitutional deadlock. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe lauded the election, the president is elected by the Parliament for a four-year term. The cabinet is selected by prime minister-designate, subject to approval of parliament, the cabinet meets at Government House on Stephen the Great Boulevard in Central Chișinău. The underlying issue in The Republic of Moldova revolves around whether or not the country should reunite with Romania, with which it shares a common ethnicity, language, culture and history. Today Moldova is effectively bilingual, with a Romanian speaking majority, there is disagreement as to whether elections and politics in Moldova are carried out in a free and democratic climate on the part of certain organizations. Other critics have referred to the Communist Party government as being authoritarian. Nevertheless, George W. Bush stated that, We note and welcome Moldovas positive record since independence in conducting free and fair elections, there have also been reports of politically motivated arrests and arrests without valid legal grounds. Such arrests are allegedly carried out against opponents of the Communist Party government of President Vladimir Voronin, in one case which was criticized by various Western organizations and individuals, opposition politician Valeriu Pasat was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on dubious grounds. Moldova had successfully joined the World Trade Organization and the Southeast European Stability Pact in 2001, agreement in these areas was critical, because large government debts that were due in 2002 had to be rescheduled. The government has made concerted efforts to find ways to pay for Moldovas energy supplies, political parties and other groups publish newspapers, which often criticize government policies. There are several independent news services, radio stations, and an independent television station, peaceful assembly is allowed, though permits for demonstrations must be obtained, private organizations, including political parties, are required to register with the government
18.
Moldovan language
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Soviet policy emphasized distinctions between Moldovans and Romanians due to their different histories. Its resolution declared Moldovan a distinct language independent of Romanian, since the reintroduction of the Latin script in 1989, the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova identified the official language as Romanian. The 1994 Constitution provided official status only to Moldovan, the status of the official language was further legislated in the early 2000s. The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted a law defining Moldovan and Romanian as designations for the same language, the breakaway region of Transnistria continues to recognize Moldovan as one of its official languages, along with Russian and Ukrainian. The variety of Romanian spoken in Moldova is the Moldavian subdialect, the two countries share the same literary standard. In the 21st century, Moldovan has been declared as one of three languages of the breakaway Moldovan territory of Transnistria, alongside Russian and Ukrainian. The word Moldavian is also used to refer collectively to the varieties of spoken Romanian. The Moldavian variety is considered one of the five major varieties of Romanian. There is no particular linguistic break at the Prut River, the border between Romania and Moldova, in schools in Moldova, the term Romanian language has been used since independence. In 2007, Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin asked for the term to be changed to Moldovan language, but due to public pressure against that choice, the standard alphabet is equivalent to the Romanian alphabet. Until 1918, varieties of the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet were used, the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet was used in 1924–1932 and 1938–89, and remains in use in Transnistria. The history of the Moldovan language refers to the evolution of the glottonym Moldavian/Moldovan in Moldova. From a linguistic perspective, Moldovan is a name for the varieties of the Romanian language spoken in the Republic of Moldova. Before 1918, during the period between the wars, and after the union of Bessarabia with Romania, scholars did not have consensus that Moldovans and the Romanians formed a single ethnic group. Missing out all the important moments in the, The Moldovan peasants had grown up in a different entity and they identified as Moldovans speaking the language Moldovan. This caused reactions from pan-Romanian nationalists, the concept of the distinction of Moldovan from Romanian was explicitly stated only in the early 20th century. It accompanied the raising of awareness among Moldovans, with the Soviets emphasizing distinctions between Moldavians and Romanians. Major developments since the fall of the Soviet Union include resuming use of a Latin script in 1989, Moldovan was assigned the code mo in ISO 639-1 and code mol in ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3
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Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
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Ukrainian language
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Ukrainian /juːˈkreɪniən/ is an East Slavic language. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic script, historical linguists trace the origin of the Ukrainian language to the Old East Slavic of the early medieval state of Kievan Rus. After the fall of the Kievan Rus as well as the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the Modern Ukrainian language has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate. From 1804 until the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian language was banned from schools in the Russian Empire and it has always maintained a sufficient base in Western Ukraine, where the language was never banned, in its folklore songs, itinerant musicians, and prominent authors. The Ukrainian language retains a degree of intelligibility with Belarusian and Russian. The first theory of the origin of Ukrainian language was suggested in Imperial Russia in the middle of the 18th century by Mikhail Lomonosov and this theory posits the existence of a common language spoken by all East Slavic people in the time of the Rus. Another point of view developed during the 19th and 20th centuries by linguists of Imperial Russia, like Lomonosov, they assumed the existence of a common language spoken by East Slavs in the past. This general point of view is the most accepted amongst academics worldwide, the supporters of this theory disagree, however, about the time when the different languages were formed. Soviet scholars set the divergence between Ukrainian and Russian only at time periods. During the time of the incorporation of Ruthenia into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and this point of view is, however, at variance with some historical data. In fact, several East Slavic tribes, such as Polans, Drevlyans, Severians, Dulebes, White Croats, Tiverians, notably, some Ukrainian features were recognizable in the southern dialects of Old East Slavic as far back as the language can be documented. In contrast, Ahatanhel Krymsky and Alexei Shakhmatov assumed the existence of the spoken language of Eastern Slavs only in prehistoric times. According to their point of view, the diversification of the Old East Slavic language took place in the 8th or early 9th century, Ukrainian linguist Stepan Smal-Stotsky went even further, denying the existence of a common Old East Slavic language at any time in the past. Similar points of view were shared by Yevhen Tymchenko, Vsevolod Hantsov, Olena Kurylo, Ivan Ohienko, according to this theory, the dialects of East Slavic tribes evolved gradually from the common Proto-Slavic language without any intermediate stages during the 6th through 9th centuries. The Ukrainian language was formed by convergence of tribal dialects, mostly due to a migration of the population within the territory of todays Ukraine in later historical periods. This point of view was supported by George Shevelovs phonological studies. During the 13th century, when German settlers were invited to Ukraine by the princes of Galicia-Vollhynia and their influence would continue under Poland not only through German colonists but also through the Yiddish-speaking Jews. Often such words involve trade or handicrafts, examples of words of German or Yiddish origin spoken in Ukraine include dakh, rura, rynok, kushnir, and majster
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Parliament
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In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative, elected body of government. Generally a modern parliament has three functions, representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government, historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. The term is derived from Anglo-Norman parlement, from the verb parler talk, the meaning evolved over time, originally any discussion, conversation, or negotiation, through various kinds of deliberative or judicial groups, often summoned by the monarch. By 1400, it had come to mean in Britain specifically the British supreme legislature, various parliaments are claimed to be the oldest in the world, under varying definitions. The Sicilian Parliament, whose first assembly was convened in 1097, the Icelandic Althing, year 930, but only including the main chiefs. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, some scholars suggest that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, however, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies. Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy, the Athenian assembly was the most important institution, and every citizen could take part in the discussions. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, the Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy. Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura is analogous to the parliament, however, others highlight what they consider fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system. England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist, under the Anglo-Saxon kings, there was an advisory council, the Witenagemot. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, the first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose, however, the Witan, along with the folkmoots, is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament. As part of the Norman Conquest of England, the new king, William I, did away with the Witenagemot, membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who rented great estates directly from the king, along with ecclesiastics. William brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy and this is the original body from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, and the Privy Council and Cabinet descend. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament, only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court. Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I, like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially finance. A meeting in 1295 became known as the Model Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments, in 1307, Edward I agreed not to collect certain taxes without the consent of the realm
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Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
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Plurality voting
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The plurality voting system is a system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the candidate who polls the most among their counterparts is elected. In a system based on single-member districts, it may be called first-past-the-post, single-choice voting, in a system based on multi-member districts, it may be referred to as winner-takes-all or bloc voting. The system is used to elect members of a legislative assembly or executive officers. It is the most common form of the system, and is used in Canada, the house in India, the United Kingdom. Plural voting is distinguished from a majority voting system, in which, to win, more votes than all other candidates combined. In some countries such as France a two-ballot or runoff election plurality system is used and this may require two rounds of voting. If on the first round no candidate receives over 50% of the votes, then a second round takes place and this ensures that the winner gains a majority of votes in the second round. Alternatively, all candidates above a threshold in the first round may compete in the second round. If there are more than two standing, then a plurality vote may decide the result. In political science, the use of the plurality voting system with multiple and this combination is also variously referred to as winner-takes-all to contrast it with proportional representation systems. This term is also used to refer to elections for multiple winners in a particular constituency using bloc voting. Plurality voting is particularly prevalent in the United Kingdom and former British colonies, including the United States, Canada and this makes the plurality voting system among the simplest of all voting systems for voters and vote counting officials. Under the plurality system, the winner of the election becomes the representative of the entire electoral district. In an election for a seat, such as for president in a presidential system, the same style of ballot is used. In the two-round voting system, usually the two highest polling candidates in the first ballot progress to the second round Run-off ballot, in a multiple member plurality election, with n seats available, the winners are the n candidates with the highest numbers of votes. The rules may allow the voter to vote for one candidate, or for up to n candidates, generally plurality ballots can be categorized into two forms. The simplest form is a ballot where the name of a candidate is written in by hand. A more structured ballot will list all the candidates and allow a mark to be next to the name of a single candidate
24.
Speaker (politics)
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The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer. The title was first used in 1399 in England, the speakers official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial, the title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England. By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, if a man, or Madam Speaker, in other cultures other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English chairman or president. Many bodies also have a pro tempore, designated to fill in when the speaker is not available. The Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives is the officer of the Australian House of Representatives. The President of the Australian Senate is the officer of the Australian Senate. Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role, in Canada, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected lower house. The speaker is a Member of Parliament and is elected at the beginning of new parliament by fellow MPs. The Speakers role in presiding over Canadas House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in countries that use the Westminster system. The Speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie, by convention, if required to vote, the Speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved. The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the officer of the Senate of Canada. The Speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of procedure and parliamentary privilege. The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the Governor General of Canada from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails, at the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the Speaker in all provinces except Quebec, where the term President is used. The presiding officer fulfills the role as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the elected to preside over the elected House of Commons
25.
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The PMSSR was never recognized as a Soviet republic by authorities in either Moscow or Chișinău. In 1991, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic succeeded the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic from which the PMSSR seceded was created in 1940 following the Soviet annexation of territory belonging to inter-war Romania. The newly fused territory became the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, and was quickly sovietized, while intended to reinvigorate the Soviet system, perestroika also undermined the strength of key institutions which provided for central control of the Soviet Union. This devolution of centralized power to republican legislatures was matched by an explosion of mass participation in the now open debate about the Soviet future. Two sets of concerns were prominent in the debates that accompanied the opening of political dialogue in the late 1980s. The first was concern for the devastation that was so characteristic of Soviet industrial society. The second, and increasingly ascendant concern, revolved around the Moldovan language and national heritage that many felt had been trammeled by Soviet, cultural revival was just one of the issues championed by such informals in early 1988. Social mobilization came late to the cities that became the centers of pro-Pridnestrovian activity. Social mobilization in Tiraspol and Bendery was mostly achieved through workplace networks called Work Collective Councils Work Collective Soviets, the mobilization in Transnistria was a reaction to the national revivalist mobilization in Bessarabian Moldova. The councils were created throughout the Soviet Union in 1987 with the Law on State Enterprises as part of the perestroika reforms and they were intended to foster democratization and increase efficiency in Soviet industry. However, they were also ready-made forums for debate and provided a structure which used to take control of Moldovan industry in late 1989. The national revivalist movements were created essentially from scratch and led by cultural figures, the internationalist movement in Transnistria took advantage of workplace institutions to build a countermovement and looked to engineers and factory managers for leadership. Staffed as it was with Moldovas Romanized cultural elite, the commission recommended the government accept all three points of the national revivalists demands. This move did nothing to diffuse the inevitable tension involved with the very project, a further draft leaked in August further escalated tensions because its opponents believed that it was even more pro-nationalist and radical than the first draft. The law was passed in a stormy Supreme Soviet session on 31 August 1989 and it declared that, The state language of Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic is Moldovan. The state language is used in political, economic, social and cultural life, however, it went on to promise protection of the Russian and other languages of Moldovas minority populations. Elsewhere in Chişinău and other cities, smaller rallies voiced opposition, the most effective, opposition, came in the form of a massive strike movement that originated in the Transnistrian city of Tiraspol. While the group Intermovement-Unitate-Edinstvo was the first to organize significant opposition to the language legislation, STKs became the focus around which opposition activity turned in the early part of the conflict
26.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
27.
Igor Smirnov
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Igor Nikolaevich Smirnov is a Transnistrian politician, the first president of the internationally unrecognized Eastern-European country Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic. Igor Smirnov was born in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union during World War II and he was the son of Nikolai Stepanovich Smirnov, a worker within the Soviet Communist Party apparatus and Zinaida Grigorevna Smirnova, a journalist and newspaper editor. As the Party promoted Nikolai Stepanovich to ever more important positions, the family moved from Petropavlosk to the Ukrainian SSR, the Smirnovs initially benefited from Nikolai Stepanovichs successes—he reached the position of First Secretary of the Golopristanskiy Raion committee in Soviet Ukraine. However, in the summer of 1952 Nikolai Stepanovich was arrested for irregularities in supply distribution among the Raions collective farms and he was sentenced to fifteen years in the Soviet forced labor camps with a following period of five years internal exile. As the family of an enemy of the people, life was difficult for Zinaida Grigorevna, in the wake of Joseph Stalins death in 1953, Nikolai Stepanovich was released together with many Soviet inmates. In 1959, Igor Smirnov began work at the Zlatoust Metallurgical Factory at the age of eighteen, soon, however, he moved back to Ukraine to work on the construction of a new hydroelectric power station in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Oblast. Smirnov displayed a great enthusiasm for Soviet life, pursuing education in the evenings and weekends after work and participating in a number of athletic. He met and married an engineer named Zhannetta Nikolaevna Lotnik in the early 1960s. In 1963, Smirnov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, once back from the military, Smirnov also continued the correspondence courses he had begun in the early 1960s, receiving a degree from the Zaporizhia Machine-Building Institute in 1974. Meanwhile, he worked his way up from the floor to be an assistant director of one of the shops of the Novaia Kakhovska Machine-Building Factory. With his college diploma, Smirnov continued to be promoted and he soon became the shop director, then assistant to the factorys chief industrial upgrades and new technologies engineer and finally an assistant director. While he was not made director in 1987 when that positions erstwhile occupant retired, as communist states began to collapse at the end of the 1980s, people in some areas of the Soviet Union began to demand sovereignty for separate national identities. One side believed that Moldova should be independent from the Moscow Kremlin and turned into a nation-state, the other believed that Moldova should remain a part of the supranationalist USSR, possibly in a post-communist, but still united country. When the strike campaign, from August 16 to September 22,1989, failed to produce much of an effect in Chişinău, Smirnov and others saw the upcoming Moldovan elections as an opportunity to effect change through different means. Once in the city soviet, Smirnov ran for chairmanship of that body, in a dramatic demonstration of how much the Communist Partys power had waned, Smirnov beat his challenger, the First Secretary of the citys Party Committee, Leonid Tsurkan, by a 2-to-1 margin. From this time forward, Tiraspol was an OSTK-controlled city, things did not go quite as smoothly for Igor Smirnov in the Moldovan Supreme Soviet. The OSTK candidates, mostly from Transnistria in the eastern periphery, were a small fraction of the bodys overall membership—approximately 15 percent. In May 1990, these Transnistrian Supreme Soviet deputies were attacked and beaten by pro-independence protesters, Igor Smirnov emerged as a leader of the OSTK on a regional level as Transnistrian politicians and activists worked towards sovereignty from the Moldovan SSR in the summer and fall of 1990
28.
Yevgeny Shevchuk
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Yevgeny Vasylyevich Shevchuk is a former President of the internationally unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic, better known as Transnistria. He was a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Transnistria from 2000 until his election as president in 2011, furthermore, he was speaker of Pridnestrovian Supreme Soviet from 2005 to 2009, and the leader of the opposition party Renewal until 2010. Shevchuk is an ethnic Ukrainian and a citizen of both Transnistria and Russia, born in Rybnitsa, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union, Yevgeny Shevchuk is a lawyer who has worked in government and private business. His biography profile describes him as social democratic technocrat with a European outlook, as part of the minority opposition in parliament prior to December 2005, he spearheaded a reform drive by his party to introduce changes to Transnistrias electoral code. This was reported in the United States State Departments Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005, after that the European Parliament banned Shevchuk from entry to the EU countries. On 22 July 2009, Shevchuk resigned from his post as speaker of parliament, Anatoliy Kaminski, who was vice-speaker under Shevchuk and is vice chairman of Shevchuks Renewal party, was the only nominee to succeed him. Mikhail Burla, leader of Renewal and Chairman of the Committee for economic policy, budget, Shevchuk cited a controversial attempt to revise the countys constitution by president Igor Smirnov as the main reason for his resignation. In December 2011, Shevchuk was elected president of Transnistria and he won the first round of the presidential elections on 11 December, polling higher than either the sitting president Igor Smirnov or the Kremlin-backed Supreme Soviet chairman Anatoliy Kaminski. He then won the round of voting with over 75% support on 25 December. He was inaugurated on 30 December 2011, on May 9,2016, Shevchuk was quoted as stating that I am sure that sooner or later we will be a united country with Russia
29.
Mikhail Burla
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Mikhail Porfirovich Burla ( is a politician in Transnistria and the chairman of the countrys main opposition party, Renewal. He is a member of Transnistrias parliament, where he has been vice-speaker since 22 July 2009, on 13 June 2012 Mikhail Burla was elected Speaker of Supreme Council to replace Anatoliy Kaminski who resigned following his failure during the Presidential elections of 2011. Burla was born on 22 November 1957 in Storozhynets Raion of the Chernivtsi Oblast in Ukraine and he is an economic geographer by profession and has spent much of his career teaching at T. G. He is married with two daughters, mihai Burla, un român originar din Cernăuţi, ales preşedinte al Sovietului Suprem de la Tiraspol БУРЛА Михаил Порфирович
30.
European Parliament
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The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, the Parliament is composed of 751 members, who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world. It has been elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979. However, voter turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, voter turnout in 2014 stood at 42. 54% of all European voters. The Parliament is the first institution of the EU, and shares equal legislative and it likewise has equal control over the EU budget. Finally, the European Commission, the body of the EU, is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament elects the President of the Commission, and it can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure. The President of the European Parliament is Antonio Tajani, elected in January 2017 and he presides over a multi-party chamber, the two largest groups being the Group of the European Peoples Party and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The last union-wide elections were the 2014 elections, the European Parliament has three places of work – Brussels, the city of Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices, meetings of the whole Parliament take place in Strasbourg and in Brussels. Committee meetings are held in Brussels, the Parliament, like the other institutions, was not designed in its current form when it first met on 10 September 1952. One of the oldest common institutions, it began as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and it was a consultative assembly of 78 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of member states, having no legislative powers. Its development since its foundation shows how the European Unions structures have evolved without a master plan. Some, such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post, said of the union, nobody would have designed a government as complex. Even the Parliaments two seats, which have switched several times, are a result of various agreements or lack of agreements, the body was not mentioned in the original Schuman Declaration. It was assumed or hoped that difficulties with the British would be resolved to allow the Council of Europes Assembly to perform the task, a separate Assembly was introduced during negotiations on the Treaty as an institution which would counterbalance and monitor the executive while providing democratic legitimacy. The wording of the ECSC Treaty demonstrated the desire for more than a normal consultative assembly by using the term representatives of the people. Its early importance was highlighted when the Assembly was given the task of drawing up the treaty to establish a European Political Community
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Parliament of Albania
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The Parliament of Albania, formerly the Peoples Parliament, is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Albania. It has 140 members, elected for four-year terms, the electoral system is closed list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the countrys 12 administrative regions, within any constituency, parties must meet a threshold of three percent of votes, pre-election coalitions must meet a threshold of five percent. All laws passed by the parliament are published by the Albanian Official Journal, the legislative system in Albania has evolved under many different regimes, most notably in the period before 1947. From 1920 to 1923, Albanias legislature was known as the National Council, during the era of the Albanian Republic, Albania had a bicameral legislature, consisting of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. From 1928 to 1939, during the era of the first iteration of the Albanian Kingdom Albanias legislature was simply as the Parliament. From 1940-1943, during the Italian occupation of Albania and the existence of the 1939 Albanian Kingdom, from 1943 to 1944, during Nazi occupation of Albania and the formation of the 1943 Albanian Kingdom, Albanias legislature was known as the National Assembly. From 1944 to late 1945, a National Anti-fascist Liberation Council was formed by opposing the Nazi puppet government. During multiple periods of regime change Albanias legislature was known as the Constituent Assembly, from 1947 to 1999, during the era of the Peoples Socialist Republic of Albania, Albanias legislature was known as the Peoples Assembly. Since 1997, the parliament has been known simply as the Parliament, currently the President is elected by the parliament. The current members were chosen in the 2013 Albanian parliamentary election and this is a list of political parties with representation in the Albanian parliament following the general parliamentary elections of 2013. Since the end of the 2010 parliamentary season, the parliament has been renovated
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General Council (Andorra)
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The General Council is the unicameral parliament of Andorra. It is sometimes referred to as the General Council of the Valleys because it was the name and to distinguish it from similarly named bodies in the Val dAran. The parish lists and the national list are independent of one another and this is a recent development, originally, the seven parishes had each returned four deputies. The Council appoints a presiding officer, titled the Síndic general, and a deputy, the current Síndic general is Vicenç Mateu Zamora of the Democrats for Andorra. The General Council elects the Head of Government, who presides over the Executive Council, the Head of Government appoints the remaining seven members of the Executive Council. The current Head of Government, is Antoni Martí, political parties are a recent innovation, the first party was formed in 1976, and they only gained legal recognition in 1992. The most recent Andorran parliamentary election was March 2015, the General Council has the second-highest proportion of women legislators, and the highest in the developed world. Exactly half of its members are women, the first parliament in Andorra was established in 1419, as the Consell de la Terra. Councillors were elected by the population, and the council appointed syndics to manage the administration of the principality, the General Council was dissolved on their order in June 1933, and a special election called to re-elect it. The opportunity was taken to change the laws, at this point, all men over twenty-five could vote. In 1970, the vote was extended to women over twenty-five, in 1971 the qualifying age for all electors was lowered to twenty-one, women gained the right to run for office in 1973, and in 1978 a referendum was held on the matter of further reform. Later that year, a parish was formed, bringing the numbers of councillors to twenty-eight. In 1982, the Executive Council was created, comprising the Executive Council President, List of First Syndics of the General Council of the Valleys List of General Syndics of the General Council of the Valleys Politics of Andorra List of legislatures by country Official website
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National Assembly (Armenia)
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The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia is the legislative branch of the government of Armenia. Before 1995, It was referred to as the Supreme Council of Armenia, the National Assembly is a unicameral body. It comprises 131 members, elected for terms,75 members in single-seat constituencies and 56 by proportional representation. The proportional-representation seats in the National Assembly are assigned on a party-list basis amongst those parties that receive at least 5% of the total of the number of the votes, the current speaker of the National Assembly is Galust Sahakyan. According to law adopted in 2016 the National Assembly consists of at least 101 seats, partis need to pass 5% and coalitions 7% threshold respectively to be included in mandate distribution. Election system reserves 50% of votes casted in favor of party to be distributed via party lists. Out of these 4 mandates will be assigned to national minorities in first place, a party list can not include over 70% of representatives of the same sex and its every 4 consequetive entries shall include members of both sexes. Another 50% of votes received by each party will be distributied among their territorial lists submited in 13 electoral disctricts, if neither party wins over 50% of mandates second round of elections will be carried out. After first round two best-placed parties are allowed to the second round, all mandates received as per first round are be preserved. The party which wins second round of elections will be given additional number of mandates to reach 54% all seats, aim of these committees is to draw attention on the exceptional cases that are not covered by the standing committees. Following the consideration and definition in the Constitution the Law on Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly clearly defines all the issues concerning the add-hoc committees. More particularly, according to the article 22 of the mentioned law, the ultimate reason for existence of such committees is to deliver a report on its finding during a session of the National Assembly. Based on these reports, the Deputy may create a resolution in 2 days and if agreed by the Lead Committee. One of the current add-hoc committees of the National Assembly of Republic of Armenia is the Committee on Ethics, if the chairperson of the ethics committee is from a non-opposition faction, the vice chairperson should be from the opposition faction and the vice versa. Factions have the right to change their representative in the ethics committee, the committee also decides if there was a violation of 2nd Paragraph of the Article 6.1 of the mentioned law i. e. The members of the committee are free to enter any state institution or to examine any document relating to the case. Any individual can apply to the committee on ethics in cases prescribed by the law, the applicant should submit a written application with all the relevant documents. By proposal of the chairperson of the committee but no later than ten days the committee starts the examination of the issue raised in the application or rejects its examination
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Austrian Parliament
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The Austrian Parliament is the bicameral legislature in Austria. It consists of two chambers, the National Council and the Federal Council, in specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets in the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna, the National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in a general election. The legislative period lasts five years, elections are held if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant house in the Austrian Parliament, the Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial assemblies of the nine States of the Federal Republic, and reflects the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage. The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations, seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber varies slightly as a result. The current Federal Council is composed of 61 delegates, with regard to most issues, the Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over bills intended to alter the powers of either the states, the Federal Assembly is a body whose function is mostly ceremonial in nature, and consists of the members of both houses of Parliament. The Federal Assembly convenes only rarely, for instance to witness the inauguration of the Federal President and it might be noted, however, that under exceptional circumstances the Austrian constitution endows the Federal Assembly with significant responsibilities. An example of this would be its pivotal role in the impeachment of a Federal President. Both houses of Parliament, as well as the Federal Assembly, constitution of Austria Austrian Parliament Building Imperial Council Imperial Diet The Austrian Parliament - Official Homepage
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National Assembly (Azerbaijan)
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The National Assembly, also transliterated as Milli Majlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. Milli Majlis was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world, following the Russian Revolution in February 1917, a special committee consisting of deputees from Transcaucasian State Duma was created. In November, Transcaucasian Commissariat was created as the first government of independent Transcaucasia, the Sejm made up from representatives of three nations did not have a solid political platform as each nation looked after its own interests. This subsequently led to dissolution of the Sejm on May 25,1918, on May 27,44 Muslim deputees of the Sejm gathered in Tbilisi and established Azerbaijan National Council to form the government of Azerbaijan. Mammad Emin Rasulzade was elected its chairman, on May 28, the National Council passed a resolution proclaiming independence of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. On June 16, the National Council and the Azerbaijani government moved to Ganja, once the government was established, Azerbaijani was made the official state language. One of the priorities of the government before moving to Baku was to liberate Baku from Centrocaspian Dictatorship then in control of the city took place on September 15,1918. Alimardan Topchubashov was elected the Speaker of the Parliament, Hasanbey Agayev - Deputy Speaker, by the end of 1919, there were 11 various political party factions in the parliament represented by 96 deputies. During its 17-month existence, the parliament held 145 sessions with the last session being convened on April 27,1920 on the eve of Russian occupation of Azerbaijan, a total of 270 resolutions were sponsored,230 of which were passed. In January 1920, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was de facto recognized by the Peace Conference, the Bolsheviks dissolved the Azerbaijani Army, executed its generals and officers, and nationalized private industries. In May 1921, the first All-Azerbaijan Soviet Session made up of elected deputies from all regions of Azerbaijan convened in Baku. The elected deputies were mainly drawn from poor, uneducated, unprepared factory workers and villagers which facilitated complete rule from Moscow, the first session established the Azerbaijan Central Executive Committee consisting of 75 members and its board with 13 members. From 1921 through 1937, nine sessions of All-Azerbaijan Soviets were convened, in 1937, during the 9th session of the All-Azerbaijani Soviets a new Azerbaijan SSR Constitution was ratified and the new legislative body the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR was established. The first elections to Supreme Soviet took place on June 24,1938, out of 310 deputies elected,107 were workers,88 collective farmers and 115 educated civil servants. Seventy two of the deputies were women, due to the authoritarian nature of Soviet rule where most new initiatives were met as conspiracies against the state, the parliament was virtually ineffective. Due to multiple reforms and restructuring in the government of the Azerbaijan SSR in the 1970s-1980s, many legislative reforms including the ratification of the new Azerbaijan SSR Constitution of 1977 took place. After the demands of the Armenian SSR to transfer the NKAO region of Azerbaijan to Armenia, on October 18,1991 the Supreme Soviet passed a resolution confirming the restoration of the independence of Azerbaijan. The first Azerbaijani parliamentary election was held in late 1990, when the Supreme Soviet already held discussions on independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union, the 1995 parliamentary election was the first to be held after restoration of Azerbaijans independence
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National Assembly of Belarus
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The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus is the bicameral parliament that governs Belarus. The House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic may be convened to an extraordinary session, any bill must be initially considered in the House of Representatives and then in the Council of the Republic. According to the Constitution, any bill that impacts the state budget must be approved by the president or the government before being voted on and its predecessor was the Supreme Soviet of Belarus. Why Does Europe Engage With Belaruss Rubber Stamp Parliament
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Belgian Federal Parliament
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The Belgian Federal Parliament is the bicameral parliament of Belgium. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate and it sits in the Palace of the Nation. The Chamber of Representatives is the legislative body, the Senate functions only as a meeting place of the federal communities. The Chamber of Representatives holds its meetings in the Palace of the Nation. Eligibility requirements for the Chamber are a minimum age of 21, citizenship, the number of seats in the Chamber is constitutionally set at 150 elected from 11 electoral districts. The districts are divided along lines,5 Flemish,5 Walloon. The districts are the provinces, except for the districts of Leuven, each district is given a number of seats proportional to its population ranging from 4 for Luxembourg to 24 for Antwerp. 7 with language facilities for French-speakers, the current composition was elected at the federal elections of 2014. Since 2014, the Senate consists of 60 members, there are two categories of senators, co-opted senators and senators of community and regional parliaments. The 10 other senators are co-opted, elected by the 50 other senators, eligibility requirements for the Senate are identical to those for the Chamber. Before 2014, the Senate consisted of 71 senators, only 21 of which were elected by the community parliaments,25 were directly elected by the Flemish constituency and 15 by the French-speaking constituency. The last direct election of these 40 members occurred in the 2010 federal elections, the 2014 elections are the first one with the reformed Senate. The President of the Senate is Christine Defraigne as of 2014, the Senate holds its plenary meetings in the Palace of the Nation, Brussels. In certain matters both Chambers have equal power, in this case, the mandatory bicameral procedure applies, which means that both Chambers must pass exactly the same version of the bill. For most other legislation, the Chamber of Representatives takes precedence over the Senate and this means that the Senate may still intervene as a chamber of consideration and reflection. It has the opportunity to, within specific time limits, examine the bills adopted by the Chamber of Representatives and, if there is a reason to do so, the Chamber may subsequently adopt or reject the amendments proposed by the Senate or make new proposals. The Senate can also submit a bill it has adopted to the Chamber, whatever the case, the Chamber has the final word. The one-chamber procedure applies in cases where the Chamber of Representatives has the power to legislate
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Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the bicameral legislative body of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of the two chambers. The House of Representatives has 42 members, elected for a four-year terms by proportional representation, the House of Peoples has 15 members, appointed by the parliaments of the entities. Its predecessors were the unicameral Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Peoples Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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National Assembly (Bulgaria)
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The National Assembly is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of Bulgaria. The National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution, the National Assembly consists of 240 members elected for a four-year term elected by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. Political parties must gather a minimum of 4% of the vote in order to enter the Assembly. It is headed and presided by the Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, the Assembly administers the publication of the State Gazette, Bulgarias gazette of record. By the Constitution, the National Assembly is inaugurated by the eldest elected member of Parliament, on the first day of sitting, he or she presides over the election of the Speaker and two deputies. Once elected, the Speakers retain their party allegiances, which means that remain as MPs and are allowed to take part in debates. 121 MPs must be present in order for any session to commence, ministers may be chosen from among the MPs or they may be experts outside Parliament. All MPs picked to be Cabinet ministers lose their MP status, Parliament sits Wednesday to Friday, and sessions begin at 9 am. Parliamentary committees sit in the afternoons, the Chamber is made up of 286 seats, all facing the 5-seat speakers bench in a 26 x 11 arrangement. In front of the Speaker, also facing the chamber, is the pulpit, parties sit in parliamentary groups, loosely following the rule that the political left sit to the Speakers left and the political right to his right. Generally, the largest parties choose the left, right or centre wings of the chamber, individual MPs will sometimes sit entirely outside of their block or stand, and, since compulsory electronic registration was implemented, may even vote from any seat in the house. To the speakers right, also facing the chamber, is a section with 17 seats reserved for the Cabinet, any of them may, however, be called up by Parliament at any time if needed. g. Those related with the civil rights, 3) Changes in the territory of the Republic. Before the World War II the Grand National Assembly was also competent in electing the Regency of the Bulgarian Kingdom if the tzar had not come to age. As an organ, the Grand National Assembly was introduced with the Tarnovo Constitution of 1879, abolished in 1947, in different constitutional provisions, it was constituted by a different number of representatives. According to the 1991 Constitution, it consists of 400 deputies, the Constitution provides that the elections for Grand National Assembly shall be conducted in the same manner as those for the Ordinary National Assembly. A qualified majority of 2/3 during three voting procedures on separate dates is required for a decision to be made, the Grand National Assembly can also serve as an ordinary National Assembly, taking care of regular legislative activities, in urgent cases only. A total of seven Grand National Assemblies have been in operation in Bulgaria, the National Assemblys main building has been proclaimed a monument of culture for its historic significance
