Maykop/Agency Caucasus – Months of a heated debate about whether successive speakers of the Adygeian Parliament should come only from Adgyeia reached its resolution after Anatoli Ivanov, who is of Russian origin, took over the post last week.
Ivanov was the Deputy Speaker of the Adygeian Parliament before he was elected the Speaker by winning 37 of the 51 votes cast at an emergency session of the Parliament last week.
He was nominated for the post as a member of the United Russian Party.
Until December 2, 2007, the Speaker of the Adygeian Parliament was Ruslan Haceniyekov. After he was elected to the Duma, one nomination came from Anatoli Ivanov and another from Vyacheslav Sapiyev, a businessman-member of the parliament of Adygeian origin, to replace him.
Only Ivanov won the nomination from the representatives of the parliamentary committees in early 2008. However, when some members of the parliament insisted that successive speakers of the parliament should be only of Adygeian origin, it became impossible to proceed any more. On March 20, the Adygeia members of the United Russian Party held a meeting to discuss the options available to them. At a suggestion from Adygeian President Aslan Thakushinov, nominations of Ivanov and Sapiyev were put to vote in Parliament. With both nominees receiving equal votes, it was left to the Council of the United Russian Party to make the final choice.
About Anatoli Ivanov…
Anatoli Ivanov was born on September 19, 1950. He graduated in 1981 with a teaching degree in history and sociology from the South Yujno-Sahalinsk State University’s Institute of Pedagogy. He graduated from Rostov State University in 1996. He afterwards earned a doctorate in philosophical sciences. He was elected member of the city council of Chita in 1975 and of Maykop in 1990. He was elected member of the Adygeian parliament for a successive four terms. He assumed responsibility as a chair of social policy committees on soldiers, invalids and veterans. He was rewarded from the Adygeian Parliament a medal of Honor, Law and Duty. ÖZ/FT
