Vaino Väljas

Vaino Väljas
Vaino Väljas in 1989
Leader of the Estonian Left Party
In office 25 March 1990 – 1 June 1995
Preceded by	Party established
Succeeded by	Hillar Eller
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia
In office 1988–1990
Preceded by	Karl Vaino
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1931-03-28) 28 March 1931 Külaküla, Estonia
Political party	Estonian Left Party

Vaino Väljas (born 28 March 1931 in Külaküla, Hiiumaa) is a former Soviet politician. He was the Chairman of the 6th Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 18 April 1963 to 19 March 1967, first secretary of communist party of Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic from 16 June 1988 to April 1990 and chairman of the party from April 1990 to August 1991.

Since Väljas was considered to have Estonian nationalist inclinations, he was removed from Estonia and appointed as the Soviet ambassador to Venezuela in 1980 and Nicaragua in 1986. As the Estonian independence movement gained momentum in 1988, the relatively liberal Väljas was recalled from Nicaragua and was appointed by Gorbachev as leader of the Estonian Communist Party.^[1] The Communist party lost its monopoly of power in February 1990. Väljas later voted for the Estonian restoration of Independence in August 1990.

Väljas was the leader of the former Communist party, renamed the Democratic Estonian Workers Party, until 1995.

References