Word: estonians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...mouse had suddenly decided to roar at a bear. The day after the session, the bear growled back. TASS announced that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the national legislature, considered the Estonian decisions "at variance with the provisions of the current constitution of the U.S.S.R." The Presidium declared that it would consider the issue at its next meeting and "invited" Estonian representatives to be present...
...constitutional issues that disturb Estonians go to the heart of the balance of power between Moscow and the federated republics. Part of Gorbachev's plan to democratize his country involves the creation of a Congress of the People's Deputies, which would wield legislative power over everything from constitutional changes to adjustments in state boundaries. Estonian concern focuses on a bloc of 750 legislators in the 2,250-member Congress who are to be elected by pan-Soviet organizations, such as artists' unions, veterans groups or the Communist Youth League, rather than by voters in local constituencies. Legal experts...
Toomas Leito, editor of the Estonian Party daily Rahva Haal, says the reforms give "more power to the Supreme Soviet than should be the case under a federal system." Agrees Lembit Koik, a leader of the quasi-official Popular Front of Estonia: "We want a Soviet Union that is really a union of republics, not indivisible Holy Russia...
...some ways, Gorbachev has himself to blame for the Estonian impasse. His calls for a "second revolution" of democratic change have been well heeded in the republic -- perhaps too well. A host of grass-roots groups have sprung up to embrace the cause of "democratization." The most prominent is the Popular Front, an avowedly moderate movement committed to furthering perestroika policies. It has attracted as many as 300,000 people to its rallies. Alongside the Popular Front are smaller, more vociferous nationalist organizations, such as the unofficial Estonian National Independence Party, which advocates secession from the Soviet Union...
...burst of reformist activity has also swept through the Estonian Communist Party. Last June its first secretary, Karl Vaino, was relieved of his duties and replaced by Valjas, 57, a Gorbachev ally who had been brought back from diplomatic exile as Ambassador to Nicaragua...