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Statue of A.V. Suvorov in Tiraspol, the capital of Pridnestrovie. He founded the city in 1792.

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - The Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, or Pridnestrovie for short, celebrated Constitution Day this Sunday.

The first constitution proclaiming Pridnestrovie a sovereign and independent state was adopted in 1991, following a 2 September 1990 declaration of independence. At a nationwide democratic referendum on December 24, 1995, the internationally-unrecognized country adopted its second constitution, which is currently in effect.

The Constitution declares Pridnestrovie to be a "sovereign, independent, democratic, the rule of law, and its people, the holders of sovereignty and the only source of authority."

As reported by New Region press, the Constitution provides PMR with all the universally accepted international standards in the protection of human rights and civil rights. It also creates a mixed market-economy with a balance between state companies, private property and mixed-use joint ventures.

In a nod to minorities, the Constitution of Pridnestrovie declares three official languages: Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian. In practice, however, everyone speaks Russian either as their first or second language, as it is the informal language of inter-ethnic communication.

Task for 2007: Economic growth, population's well-being

In his address to the country's citizens, Pridnestrovie's President Igor Smirnov said that the republic's authorities can now formulate and solve principally new tasks, including the economy's qualitative growth and measures to raise the people's well-being.

Pridnestrovie, which has a majority Slavic population, broke away from the MSSR (a constituent part of the USSR) in the general breakup of the Soviet Union in 1990. Moldova has never recognized the right of the people to self-determination and still pursues an old territorial claim on the territory. In a bloody war in 1992, Moldova unsuccessfully attempted to impose its sovereignty. Historically, Pridnestrovie has never been part of Moldova.

In an independence referendum held 17 September, more than 97% of PMR's electorate voted in favor of independence and rejected a union state with Moldova. The international community, however, did not recognize the referendum results, prompting Smirnov to state that "democracy does not require the approval of anyone. It is the will of the people."

Also known informally under names such as Transdniester and Transnistria, the PMR meets all the requirements for statehood under international law. It has a permanent population equivalent to Montenegro's, the world's newest U.N. member. For the past sixteen years, the PMR has had sovereign control of a territory which is larger than 10% of other countries in the world. It has a democratically elected government with a parliment which is currently led by an opposition party. It also has more than a dozen government ministries, including a Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is currently in the process of expanding the new and emerging country's integration ties to the international community.

Pridnestrovie has its own flag, national anthem, coat of arms, postage stamps, passports, car plates, border control and police force. It also has a Supreme Court and a Central Bank which issues its own currency, the PMR Ruble, at a mint which is located in the south of the country. Constitution Day is a national holiday which takes place every 24th of December, celebrating the anniversary of its pro-reform constitution. Upholding the Constitution is the responsibility of the legislature as well as the nation's Supreme Court.

See also:
» Opposition-controlled parliament appoints new ombudsman for human rights [1]

On the web:
» Full text: Pridnestrovie's Constitution [2]