Communist Party Leader in Estonia Ousted From Office
The Communist Party chief of the restive Baltic republic of Estonia was abruptly dismissed today in the third firing of a leader of a non-Russian republic in a month.
A European diplomat familiar with Estonia said Karl Vajno, 65, had been criticized in Estonian newspapers for lagging behind on perestroika, or restructuring, in the liberal Baltic republic.
“He was not on the perestroika bandwagon,” the diplomat said.
Tass press agency said Vajno was replaced by Vajno Vaelas, 57, a diplomat for the last eight years. He previously was the Communist Party leader of Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn.
Unlike past announcements, Tass did not blame the sudden leadership change on reasons of health or retirement but instead flatly said Vajno was dismissed on the orders of the Estonian party’s Central Committee.
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