CRIMEA IN THE GRIP OF INTERNECINE FEUDING.

Crimea’s parliament is again paralyzed by internecine feuding. On March 13, the parliamentary presidium stripped the mandates of seven members of parliament representing the "anti-criminal coalition" and excluded them from the chamber. Three of the seven have since gone on a hunger strike. (Interfax, March 13, 17) The quarrel is an internal one, not directly related to the peninsula’s ongoing struggle for autonomy from the central Ukrainian authorities, but if it continues Kiev may be forced to intervene to restore order. There are reports that, should this happen, Kiev may implement recommendations drafted by Ukraine’s Justice Ministry under which the republic parliament would be reconstituted with equal numbers of members representing the Russian, Ukrainian, and Crimean Tatar communities. This would give the Ukrainian and Tatar representatives the ability consistently to outvote the representatives of the Russian majority. A statement by Russian nationalist politicians, issued in Moscow this week in response to these reports, threatens to inflame the situation by accusing Ukraine of human rights abuses in Crimea. (Interfax, March 20)

Armenia’s New Prime Minister is Karabakh’s President.