Maikop/Agency Caucasus – Candidacies were announced for the parliament speakership in the Republic of Adygeia, a country where the nationality of the candidates have been disputed up until recently.
Anatoli Ivanov, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, and Vyacheslav Sapiyev, a member of the parliament with a business background, were announced as candidates for the Speakership of the Adygei Parliament after Ruslan Hajebiyekov was elected a member of the Duma in December 2007.
The committee representatives in the parliament nominated Anatoli Ivanov in early 2008. However, a consensus was not possible to reach after some members of the parliament insisted that the next speaker of the parliament should be an Adygei. Three months of debates followed a meeting in March 20 by the Adygei members of the ruling United Russian Party. Adygei President Aslan Thakushinov suggested at the meeting that the candidacies of Ivanov and Sapiyev should be voted. Both candidates received an equal number of votes. It was decided that both candidates should be submitted to the General Council of the United Russian Party and the candidate who receives the approval should be submitted to the Adygei Parliament. RE/ÖZ/FT
