19 March 2003
Half of Brest Regional Soviet members serve second term under the same chairmanship
No big changes occurred in the composition of the Brest Regional Soviet after the local election earlier this month with half of deputies serving a second term under the chairmanship of Leonid Lemeshevsky reelected at the soviet's first meeting on March 24.
Deputies at the first meeting did not, however, limit themselves to merely organizational matters. They adopted an appeal to the Ministry of Health against the planned closure of the vocational medical school in Baranovichi, the region's second largest city.
Apart from the Baranovichi school, the ministry plans to discontinue financing medical schools in Molodechno, Slonim and Polotsk next year citing oversupply of nurses.
Sergei Panko, the region's chief health officer, asked the soviet to propose that the government allocate at least a minimal amount to keep the Baranovichi medical school running next year and give it time draw funds from off-budgetary sources. The appeal was prompted by protests
from the school lecturers, students and their parents. Eighty-three candidates, including 27 from political parties, were running for the 60 seats in the regional soviet in the March 2 election. The parties, however, failed to win a single seat, Aleksandr Koleda, chairman of
the regional election commission, told the deputies. Two districts - one in the Beryoza district and one in Pinsk - will see by-elections.
Sixteen of the regional deputies work in the manufacturing
and transport industries, 10 in agriculture, 11 in the education, science and culture sectors, 10 in healthcare, 1 in commerce, 5 are civil servants, and 5 are military or police officers. There are 11 women on the soviet.
Vadim Popov, chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, in his speech to the deputies called the local election a great political victory over ill-wishers.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news377.html