KIEV, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – The self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) elected a head leader and passed a new constitution on Sunday, a week after the Ukrainian region held an independence referendum, an LNR spokesman said Monday.
The republic’s State Council chose Valery Bolotov as the head of the republic. Bolotov was proclaimed “people’s governor” of the region on April 21 at a people’s gathering in a seized building of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in Luhansk.
Bolotov was included on an EU sanctions list on April 13, and was added to Canada’s blacklist on May 13, a day after he announced that the Luhansk People’s Republic had declared independence from Ukraine.
Alongside the selection of Bolotov, Vasily Nikitin was named the republic’s prime minister.
Council deputies were also elected on Sunday at popular assemblies across the region.
The session of the republic’s assembly ended early Monday and will resume at 3:00 p.m. local time later in the day.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics in eastern Ukraine held referendums on self-determination on May 11, with over 90 percent of voters supporting greater autonomy.
Both republics have declared themselves sovereign states and begun establishing militaries and government agencies. The Donetsk People’s Republic plans to petition Moscow to join Russia, and the Luhansk leadership has also said it does not rule out the possibility of a referendum on becoming part of Russia.
Donetsk People’s Republic Governor Pavel Gubarev said Sunday there is a strong chance for the unification of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which he believes will be the basis of a new state: Novorossiya.
Ukraine underwent a regime change in February after the so-called Maidan mass rallies in Kiev. The Ukrainian parliament backed by far-right movements ousted elected President Viktor Yanukovych, amended the country’s constitution and scheduled early elections for May 25.
Moscow has cast doubt on the legitimacy of the current Kiev authorities, and has said that the legitimacy of the upcoming election will depend on a number of conditions including transparency and the interests of the regions.
