Opposition wins in democratic election

Last December's parliamentary elections in Pridnestrovie almost didn't happen. Foreign pressure attempted to put them off to an undefined future date. But bowing to the rule of law, Pridnestrovie held its scheduled parliamentary elections in December 2005 as mandated by the country's constitution. Initially, this was not to the liking of the OSCE which had asked Pridnestrovie to put it off; however in a choice between the OSCE and the Constitution, the country's election commission decided that the Constitution — as the highest law in the land — had to be followed over and above any requests from any sort of foreign organizations. As a result, the OSCE refused to send international observers to recognize the election. However, plenty of other organizations and quite a few countries decided to send observers so there was not a lack of international recognition or international election observers despite the absence of the OSCE at the polls.

On 11 December 2005, voters in Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica elected deputies to the country's Parliament. Public transportation was free for the day of the elections. From early morning speakers were transmitting happy pop-tunes. The country's Ministry of Culture had arranged for folk dancers and singers to provide a festive atmosphere and there was live music at almost every polling place.

The elections were held on a single-mandate basis. There are 257 election districts in the republic and for the parliamentary election they where organized into 43 areas, one for each seat in Parliament. The election was highly competitive, with nearly 200 candidates standing and an average of 4 candidates per district. Elections were based on a simple majority system. Monitoring the voting were over 150 international observers and lots of international press.

153 registered international observers participated in the 2005 democratic elections for parliament, along with 112 accredited journalists from 46 newspapers and television stations.

Although not officially present, the OSCE nevertheless sent observers (in addition to the 153 officially accredited observers from other international organizations). The OSCE observers saw that all of the OSCE-rules for transparency in elections had been implemented and gave their verdict. OSCE-official Metyu Sidoroff, interviewed by the news agency Regnum, was quoted in the press as calling Pridnestrovie's elections "democratic and transparent" ... unofficially, that is. Officially, the OSCE position was one of no comment.

The election process was pronounced completely free and fair by all of the organizations who sent international observers. In contrast, only the groups who did not send observers declared the process to be undemocratic. The British delegation pronounced the elections extremely democratic, and from Poland an MP-led observer mission praised Pridnestrovie's democratic system as by far the most open and transparent in the Black Sea region.

The two main rivals in Pridnestrovie's politics on the national level are the pro-authority Respublica party and the pro-reform Renewal-party, created by the country's growing middle class of entrepreneurs and private business people.
The latter party is the opposition and was considered by foreign analysts as a project for a “color revolution”. But both parties support the continued independence of Pridnestrovie as a separate country, a policy which is at odds with Moldova-aligned international opponents of Pridnestrovie's independence.

Although the main parties in Pridnestrovie disagree on many things, their leaders Mihail Burla (“Renewal”) and Juriy Suhov (“Respublica”) held a joint press conference following December's election to underscore the main single point that they both agree on: The status of Pridnestrovie as a sovereign, independent country. Although political fights are common in a democracy, this is one thing that the two leaders agreed never to compromise on. They know that voters overwhelmingly support the continued independent status of Pridnestrovie as a free and separate country.

The turnout in Pridnestrovie's most recent parliamentary elections reached 56,3% of the registered votes, the Central Election Commission informed. This figure was deemed "acceptable" and international observers noted that it is actually higher than many similar types of elections in both the U.S. and Europe. Under local legislation, a turnout of at least 25% is needed at the republic's 257 polling stations for the results to be valid.

The 11 December 2005 elections for Pridnestrovie's parliament showed that most PMR residents believe in their country's independent statehood and support it by voting. There were no allegations of voting fraud and the Central Election Commission reported no tensions or disagreements anywhere in the country.

Igor Smirnov, Pridnestrovie's current president, did not stand in this election since this was for parliament, not for the presidency. The presidential election will be held in late 2006. He voted at a polling station in the capital, Tiraspol. While talking to the press, Smirnov announced that the lack of recognition by some parts of the international community of the republic’s election did not bother him.
“ - Elections are held for the benefit of the people and not for OSCE. We do not intend to prove to anybody else than to our citizens that we have democracy. I don't want to sound arrogant. But honestly, let them come and see for themselves if it is so important to them. Our country is open and anyone is welcome. Let he who has eyes see.”

Although the governing party lost the election, and for the first time in the country's history lost its majority in Parliament, the president still supported the result and agreed to abide by the democratic outcome as decided by the voters.

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