Eastbook – blog on EU Eastern Partnership

Moldova: Presidential Elections In Transnistria

Tomasz Horbowski @ 07:34, 12.12.2011

According to the exit-polls, the elections in Transnistria were won by Igor Smirnov. Yet he still did not receive 50 percent of votes, which would allow him to take the presidential office after the first round. If these results are confirmed, the run-off will take place on 25th December, when Smirnov will probably be up against Yevgeny Shevchuk.

Elections in the separatist Transnistria Republic, 11th December, source: president.pmr-gov.org

On 11th December, presidential elections were held in the separatist Transnistria Republic. Six candidates run for the office, among them Igor Smirnov, the incumbent head of state, having so far two re-elections to his credit. According to the exit-polls, he received almost 47.5 percent of votes. The second place took Yevgeny Shevchuk, former Speaker of the Parliament, with 23.21 percent, and the third – current Speaker Anatoly Kaminsky, supported by the Kremlin (22.6 percent). If the polls were confirmed, in two weeks, there will be a run-off between Smirnov and Shevchuk.

The third result of Antoly Kaminsky, the current leader of Transnistrian parliament, backed by Moscow, is a surprise. For several months, the Kremlin has been pressuring towards a power change, openly supporting Kaminsky. In October, head of Russian presidential administration Sergey Naryshkin appealed directly to Smirnov for his stepping away during December elections. Smirnov did not listen and in addition announced that it induced him all the more so to run, for he alone is ready to defend Transnistria’s independence. Not only was Moscow backing Kaminsky using symbolic gestures – a presidential letter and a picture with Russian head of state –but also through financial aid: a credit of 300 million RUB.

A campaign spot of Igor Smirnov:

Igor Smirnov has been ruling in Transnistria since 1992 without a break. In that year, after a short military conflict accompanied by Russian intervention, the region became almost entirely independent from Chisinau. Today Transnistria has ca. 550 thousand citizens, mainly Russian-speaking, and is not recognized by any country, including Russia, without which help, on the other hand, it could not function. According to Interfax, the results will be announced on Monday.

Update:

As it turned out, the final results might differ from the exit-polls. It is still unknown who won the elections. Three organizations conducting survey published dissimilar results – each with a different winner: Smirnov, Kaminsky or Shevchuk. The board of the latter announced its candidate’s victory, putting Kaminsky on the second place (27.7 percent) and Smirnov – the third (25.5 percent). However, the Smirnov’s team challenged the results and appealed for a repetition, which rather indicates Smirnov lost the elections. The Central Electoral Commission informed that it will reveal the results on Wednesday, 14th December.

Source: Interfax, Kommersant, Unimedia

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