Transnistrian speaker quits

The president of the Transnistrian parliament, Yevgeny Shevchuk, has quit on July 8. The reason is that he does not accept the new draft Constitution of the area, proposed by Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov, Info-Prim Neo reports. On April 15, 2009, the legislature of the break-away area endorsed, in the first reading, amendments to the Constitution, by which Transnistria was to turn from a presidential republic to a parliamentary republic. Igor Smirnov harshly criticized the changes and accused the legislature of undermining the state power. RIA Novosti informs that Smirnov mastered protests of several NGOs, which demanded to dissolve the Transnistrian parliament. Shevchuk, in his turn, asked the Transnistrian president to stop marring the parliament's image and called to a constructive dialogue. On May 27, Smirnov appointed a committee to draft a new Constitution. Shevchuk severely criticized the document proposed by Smirnov and said the main goal of the draft was the struggle for power and keeping it in the hands of a group of people, feeding themselves on the state budget. “This document will lead to the state's destruction. They try to accredit a single person upon which all the elective offices will depend,” Shevchuk is quoted by Regnum news agency as stating. According to Shevchuk, Smirnov's committee ignores the opinion of the parliament and he sees no other solution but resigning. The former speaker gave a speech in the parliament calling on the MPs to stick together in order to support the healthy forces and to localize the inadequate persons. He is confident the Transnistrians wait for a change. Shevchuk's dismissal has been appraised by MPs as a gesture of heroism and courage, Novy Region – Pridnestrovie writes on its web page. Tiraspol parliamentarian Galina Antyufeeva has said the Legislature is in danger and every MP must appreciate Shevchuk's move. MP Petru Pasat says Shevchuk made a “wise, responsible and courageous” decision.