Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 28, 1990 TAG: 9007280019
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
The Byelorussian Parliament stopped short of a full declaration of independence, but it demanded its "share in Soviet riches," including gems, gold and foreign currency.
The Byelorussian lawmakers declared the republic's laws would be enforced by a locally appointed prosecutor chosen by Parliament.
Until now, the central government in Moscow has appointed prosecutors for the republics. The proposed change is similar to changes being sought in other republics.
Parliament also asserted the supremacy of Byelorussian laws in the republic and a local right to establish the republic's own armed forces and security police.
The statement, approved in Minsk after several hours of debate, followed similar or stronger declarations from seven of the 15 Soviet republics.
There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin, where President Mikhail Gorbachev, trying to head off a nationwide sovereignty crisis, has promised to propose a revised form of government in which republics are to have far greater freedom than under the tightly centralized state authority.
As the vote was taken, President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian federated republic attended a meeting in the Baltic region, where separatist zeal is the furthest advanced.
Speaking on Latvian television, Yeltsin said Thursday that the Russian republic would be signing treaties with all three Baltic states, recognizing their sovereignty, in four to six weeks.
While the central government has been delayed in drafting the promised new union treaty, various republics have been taking the initiative, most importantly the Russian republic, by far the nation's largest and richest in resources.
by CNB