President of Tajikistan of his support for the August Coup of 1991 in Moscow and the resulting street demonstrations in Dushanbe. From 1991 to 1992 the post of the president changed hands several times due to the political changes and uncertainty following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and ensuing social unrest and violence in the Tajikistan Civil War. Since 1994, Emomali Rahmonov has held the position of the presidency. The presidential elections were last held in 2013. Presidential elections in Tajikistan have consistently been criticized by international observers as unfair and favoring the ruling party. The President of the Republic of Tajikistan
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Baltic states, Armenia and Georgia boycotted the union-wide preservation vote with 98.72% in favor without any official sanction. On May 23, 1991, the Moldavian parliament changed the name of the republic to the Republic of Moldova. Gagauzia declared independence as a republic on August 19, 1991. Moldova then seceded from the Soviet Union and became an independent sovereign state on August 27, 1991, after the failed coup in Moscow. After that period, on August 22, 1991 at 12:15 pm Kishinev time, the statue of Vladimir Lenin was toppled by protesters in the Moldavian capital. Independence was quickly followed by civil