The current Constitution of Transnistria was approved by national

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on 24 December 1995, and signed into law by the

President of Transnistria , insignia = , insigniasize = , insigniacaption = , insigniaalt = , flag = Presidential Standard of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.svg , flagsize = 100 ...

on 17 January 1996. As part of the territory's move towards market based reforms, it was modified on 30 June 2000. The constitution provides for a

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

between

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

, and

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

es. It names

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

and Moldavian as the three official languages of the republic, grants

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

, and grants every citizen

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

and the

right to property The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...

. It further establishes

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

( Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

country with a

multiparty democracy In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

and a

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

. In 2009, president

Igor Smirnov Igor Smirnov may refer to: *Igor Smirnov (politician) (born 1941), president of the unrecognized Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic * Igor Smirnov (scientist) (1951–2004), controversial Russian mind control researcher See also * Igor Mirnov Igo ...

appointed a constitutional commission, which has proposed some controversial constitutional changes.Yevgeny Shevchuk, "I call on you all to unite to protect our future, where there is the rule of law, the strong people are just, the weak people are protected, and everyone works and maintains stability”.
/ref> The stated purpose of the new constitution is to harmonize Transnistrian legislation with that of its main guarantor state,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Among the proposed changes is the introduction of a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

legislature (of which the lower house is to be elected and the upper house to be appointed) and the abolition of elections for rural administrations. An official draft was published on 11 September 2009. Smirnov sent the draft to parliament on 23 October. A referendum was planned for 24 January 2010, but the proposal failed in parliament on 18 November. The draft is now to be amended once more. In June, 2011, the parliament adopted, and in July, the president signed the new amendments,2011 amendments
abolishing the post of Vice President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), introducing the post of Prime Minister and such body as the Government of the PMR.

References

External links

Constitution of Transnistria (as of 2006, Russian)

Constitution of Transnistria (as of 2000, English)
{{Constitution of Europe Politics of Transnistria

1995 documents