Moldova's President meets new leadership of Gagauz People's Assembly

Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin met Monday with Ana Harlamenko, the newly elected speaker of Gagauzia's legislative body, and her deputies, Demian Karaseni and Elena Kovalenko. The meeting was attended by Speaker Marian Lupu, Info-Prim Neo reports, citing the presidential press service. Vladimir Voronin has observed that it was for the first time in the history of the autonomy that a problem so complex was resolved without any involvement from outside, with the members of the People's Assembly showing “much judiciousness, discernment and political will in the name of and for the prosperity of Gagauzia”. “The election, through consensus, of the Assembly's leadership is a very important event for the consolidation of the Gagauz legislature”, declared Vladimir Voronin. The President reasserted the interest of the country's leadership in a further constructive collaboration with the authorities in Comrat for the purpose of modernizing and ensuring the wellbeing of the Gagauz autonomy and of the country. Speaker Marian Lupu expressed his wish for a close cooperation between the Gagauz legislature and the Moldovan Parliament with a view to harmonizing the legislation of the autonomy with the national one and for sharing experience. Ana Harlamenko has stated that she will make every effort to ensure an efficient functioning of the People's Assembly and a close interaction with the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, with the central authorities, in order to deal with the problems facing the autonomy at present and for the general development of the country. The new leadership of the People's Assembly was elected by unanimous vote on July 31, after the representatives of the three groupings in the Gagauz legislature – Ana Harlamenko, Demian Karaseni and Sergei Chernev – signed a memorandum on the principles of activity.