Overwhelming support for independence referendum

In Tiraspol, voters are going to the polls amid a sea of red and green, the colors of independent Pridnestrovie

BENDER (Tiraspol Times) - By the crack of dawn, at 7:00 a.m., polling stations in Pridnestrovie opened their doors to the first early risers waiting to cast their votes in Sunday's independence referendum. Towns and cities throughout the length of the country have been decorated with the red and green flag of the independent Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, to use the full name of the unrecognized country which is also known as just Transnistria.

At least 50 percent of the country's 390,000 registered voters must cast ballots to validate the referendum.

News media and political organizations will be holding exit polls throughout the day, with preliminary official results expected on Monday.

Although several countries have declared their unwillingness to send government-accredited observers, many NGOs are sending their own staff to observe the vote in the interest of transparency and democracy building.

Recognized by citizens, not by governments

Moldova, neighbouring Ukraine and the European Union refuse to recognize the referendum and have sent no observers. In response to this official boycot, civil society groups of these countries have taken it upon themselves to organize teams of international observers.

In recent days and weeks, teams of election monitors have been arriving in Tiraspol and other parts of the country from numerous NGOs and civil society organizations in Japan, USA and Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to 40 election monitors from Europe's largest youth group, "Ours", an additional 134 international observers operate in the republic under the guidance of a variety of international organizations.

There are no specific rules in international law as to what constitutes an election observer or election monitor. In many cases, observer teams are organized by governments or international organizations, but the task is increasingly being handled by NGOs and private democracy watchdogs such as the US-based Carter Center.

Some governments, including the United States, prohibit the presence of international election monitors but is not beyond sending its own observers to pass judgment on other countries. For smaller states, which are often accused of a less than perfect commitment to democracy, the verdict of credible election monitors can clear doubts as to whether a free and fair vote was held under democratic standards.

Apart from the international observers, journalists from BBC, Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, as well as newspaper and television channels from Russia, Japan, Romania, Ukraine, the USA and several countries of the European Union are also in Tiraspol covering today's vote. In total, more than a hundred foreign journalists are on the scene to show the growing political self-awareness of the people of Pridnestrovie.

Participation of Moldovan groups with government ties?

" - It is important that every election observer tells the truth and reports with fairness and impartiality," says the chairman of the Central Election Committee, Peter Denisenko, while adding that the authorities have made everything transparent and that no part of the voting process will be off-bound to the observers.

A human rights group from Moldova announced that it will be participating with its own observers but was nowhere to be seen during the vote, and had made no attempt to obtain credentials or otherwise show any presence. Even earlier, doubts were raised about the group's human rights credentials and it was denounced as a government-stooge by the head of the Information-Analytical Center, Alexei Martynov.

" - I have been observing the orchestrated development of the so-called ‘civil society’ in the Republic of Moldova for years. Two former KGB operatives run many of these groups. One is Boris Asarov and the other one is Stefan Urîtu. There are close connections to Moldova's ISC (Information and Security agency – the Moldavian Secret Service). Generally speaking, I want to stress that Moldavia and civil society are ‘two incompatible things.’ Serious people should not pay attention to statements of the so-called ‘Moldovan civil society.’ There is no such society at all," stated Martynov.

Prior statements by Stefan Urîtu and Boris Asarov in advance of the referendum closely followed the official line of Moldova's government, and any future statements by Stefan Urîtu must be seen in the same light, believes Martynov, saying that his view of Pridnestrovie rarely reflects reality, but merely the "party line" of the anti-independence central authorities in Chisinau.

Independence win predicted

As reported earlier by Tiraspol Times, voters of Pridnestrovie - also known by the informal name Transnistria - are heading to the polls today to vote the following two questions:
1. Do you support the course towards the independence of the PMR and a subsequent free association with the Russian Federation?
2. Do you consider it possible to renounce the PMR's independent status and subsequently become part of the Republic of Moldova?

According to opinion polls and press surveys, conducted in advance of today's referendum, there is little doubt that the first question will win in a landslide. Likewise, it is predicted that the second question - unification with Moldova - will be thoroughly trashed. Voters in Pridnestrovie are staunchly independent and, for the most part, strong supporters of keeping what to all practical effects already amounts to independent statehood. Only the turnout figure and voter abstention percentage is in doubt.

The small country, home to 555,000 inhabitants, declared independence in 1990, during the fall of the Soviet Union. Although widely considered a part of Moldova, it was already independent in 1991 when the current Republic of Moldova was created, and it has staunchly maintained its de facto independence, receiving no funding from Moldova and legislating with a separate, independent parliament. In 1992, it succesfully defended itself against Moldovan troops which tried to enforce a territorial claim. A ceasefire has held since then and the two sides are today separated by a demilitarized buffer zone.