Statement of the Supreme Soviet of the RT

S T A T E M E N T

of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Tatarstan

Numerous letters from working organizations, requesting interpretations for the question, submitted at the referendum on March 21, 1992 and for the acts on the state sovereignty of the Tatarstan Republic are delivered to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Tatarstan. In accordance with item 7, article 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Tatarstan Republic gives the official interpretation: the question submitted at the referendum on March 21, 1992 doesn't mean the secession or non-secession of the Republic of Tatarstan from the Russian Federation and Tatarstan state isolation from Russia. The aim of the referendum is to clear up: if the will and interests of Tatarstan's people are in accordance with the reform, proclaimed by the Basic republican Law, of previous autonomous Tatarstan's status into the new status of sovereign state, which remains on common economic and geopolitical territory with the Russian Federation But according to the universally recognized principal of peoples' self-determination and equality it correspondingly forms new relations with the Russian Federation, other states, republics on the basis of equal in rights agreements and delegation of some powers to the Russian Federation.

The determination of state status of the Republic of Tatarstan, mentioned in the first paragraph of the resolution of the RT Supreme Soviet on February 21, 1992 "On conducting the referendum concerning the state status of the Republic of Tatarstan", means the rise of its status, provided by the Declaration of its state sovereignty. Taking into account the existence of economic, cultural and other ties between the Republic of Tatarstan and CIS members, which because of some juridical reasons of nature of the CIS practically have an international and legal character, and taking into account developing relations with foreign countries, the Republic of Tatarstan, as a state, must have necessary international competence, which is reflected in the question submitted at the referendum. It doesn't mean that these competencies exceed the frameworks of the constitutional legislation.

So far as the question, submitted at the referendum on March 21, 1992 doesn't mean any changes in the acting constitutional legislation of the Republic of Tatarstan, which is already based on the sovereign status of the Republic, the main provisions of the Law of November 29, 1991 "On the referendum in the Republic of Tatarstan" do not contradict the world practice of elections and plebiscites and do not contradict corresponding provisions of the Law of October 16, 1990 "On the referendum in the Russian Federation". Article 35 of the Law of the Russian Federation, as well as the Law on the referendum in the Republic of Tatarstan which determines that the results on the questions submitted at the referendum will be accepted if they gather more than 50 % votes of citizens, taking part at the referendum.

The necessity of changes from the old-fashioned relation of subordination into relations of coordination was often confirmed during the negotiations between the official delegations of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Russian Federation. The Protocol on the results of consultations between the delegations of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan which took place from 12 th to 15 th August, 1991 in Moscow states that the Russian Federation, understanding and respecting the aspiration of the Republic of Tatarstan for renewal and the rise of its Status agrees to build the relations with the Republic of Tatarstan by contractual forms of regulation and taking into account the priority of interests of both sides. The Agreement on economic cooperation of January 22, 1992 between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan ensures the independent conducting of foreign economic activity and conclusion of agreements on other questions which are subjects of mutual interests.

As for juridical nature of the acts of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Tatarstan of October 24 and of February 21, 1992, they are legal applicable acts, issued for the implementation of the Declaration on the state sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Law on the referendum in the Republic of Tatarstan, article 4 of the Declaration on the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation and are directed at the practical organization of the referendum.

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet pays special attention to the fact that acts on state sovereignty and on the referendum in the Republic of Tatarstan do not encroach on the state and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. They do not discriminate and divide republican citizens by national and religious belonging, but proceed from the juridical equality of citizens independently of national belonging and belief, proclaim the Tatar and the Russian languages as the state languages and guarantee doubtless all the citizens of the Republic of Tatarstan the right to the voluntary change of their citizenship.

All the acts of the Republic of Tatarstan, mentioned above, are in accordance with the principal of free national-state self-determination of nations, ensured by article 4 of the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation and international legal commitments of the Russian Federation.

Kazan, August 30, 1990