Pridnestrovie MPs to monitor Abkhazia vote as election observers

Four PMR MPs will be in Abkhazia, a traditional Black Sea tourist destination, as election observers for this Sunday's vote

SUKHUMI (Tiraspol Times) - A total of 119 candidates will be running for 35 seats in the Abkhaz Parliament this Sunday: The elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia are scheduled for March 4, 2007. More than 100 international election observers will follow the vote, with four MPs from Pridnestrovie being part of a monitoring delegation.

Abkhazia, located to the northwest of the Republic of Georgia, wants full independence and international recognition. Elections will be held based on the majoritarian system in 35 single-mandate constituencies.

Georgian media sources are reporting that the upcoming elections are marked by confrontation between supporters of Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh and Vice-President Raul Khajimba – old rivals who contested for the presidency in 2004 elections. A power-sharing agreement between the two men in December 2004 put an end to a two-month standoff that was triggered after the disputed presidential elections. But a wide spectrum of opposition groups and candidates, from left to right, are entering the fray and making their voices heard.

Pridnestrovie’s delegation composing of 4 parliamentarians will participate in the parliamentary elections to the National Assembly of Abkhazia as observers within the framework of interparliamentary cooperation between Abkhazia and Pridnestrovie. The decision was taken by the Parliamentary Presidium at a Wednesday meeting in the unrecognized country, which is also known as Transnistria and Transdnestr. The members of Pridnestrovie's parliamentary delegation to Abkhazia are Special Parliamentary Envoy for interparliamentary relations Grigory Marakutsa, Chairperson of the Committee for industry, agrarian policy and natural resources Efim Koval, Chairperson of the Committee for public associations, youth policy, sport and the media Vyacheslav Tobukh and Chairperson of the Committee for security, defence and peacekeeping activity Oleg Gudymo.

International election observers are expected from a dozen countries around the world, including leading election monitoring missions made up of NGOs from Italy, Germany, France and several other European countries.

Opposition parties with strong following

In Abkhazia, just like in Pridnestrovie, the vast majority of the opposition coincides with the government on the main goal: Independence. But beyond that, everything else is up for debate. And in Abkhazia, a strong opposition has been slamming the government in the run-up to the election.

A group of Abkhaz opposition MP candidates have unleashed criticism of Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh for interfering in their election campaign and hence violating election code of the unrecognized republic, Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress reported on February 26.

19 opposition MP candidates running in the Abkhaz parliamentary elections scheduled for March 4 argue that Sergey Bagapsh intervened in the election campaign by criticizing several opposition MP candidates during a televised Q&A session on February 23.

During the televised press conference, Bagapsh launched into heavy criticism of opposition MP candidate Vladimir Arshba. Arshba is an opposition MP candidate running in one of Sokhumi’s single-mandate constituencies, and is seen by his followers as a potential future presidential contender.

The main political movements competing will be United Abkhazia, Aitara (Revival), Amtsakhara (Signal Light) and others who support the Abkhaz president. They will have to compete with "Forum for National Unity," a broadbased opposition movement under which the followers of VP Raul Khajimba are united. The Abkhaz Communist Party, another opposition party, will also take part in parliamentary elections.

Disinformation from Georgia

Predictably, Georgia has called the elections 'illegal' - since they are not held by Georgia's election authorities - and has refused to send observers. Georgia, which pursues an old territorial claim on Abkhazia, will not recognize the result. Instead, Georgia issued a statement yesterday claiming that the election will be chaotic and that fighting has broken out between political opponents. No such evidence exists and Abkhazia dismisses it as a feeble attempt at Georgian disinformation:

" - Abkhazia is not Georgia, where politicians fight against each other using wild methods and get poisoned in rented apartments," commented a representative of the president of Abkhazia on the information spread in Georgian media, according to which an armed attack had taken place among the backers of Baghapsh and Khajimba.

" - We understand irritation of Georgian side. Abkhazia, unlike Georgia, is a civilized country and relevantly the debates among the candidates for presidential elections are conducted constructively," stated Christian Bzhania, head of the press office of the president of Abkhazia.

The peoples of Abkhazia and Georgia are different ethnically and linguistically. Georgians value freedom and independence very highly, and so do the Abkhazians. They have very little in common, besides a mutual wish for independence and freedom.

Much the same is true in Moldova and Pridnestrovie. Moldova (with 75% ethnic Moldovans) is a country which predominantly speaks Moldovan, identical to Romanian. In contrast, Pridnestrovie (where Moldovans make up just over 30%), is majority Slavic and most of the population speaks Russian. With a different historical past, the two sides of the Dniester river have never co-existed as a joined, independent country at any time in history. The Dniester river has traditionally been an international border.

Having been de facto independent for nearly seventeen years, it is hard to see how anyone in Pridnestrovie can be forced to turn back the clock. Like their counterparts in Abkhazia, they look towards a future where they will be welcomed as full and worthy members of the international community, collaborating for stronger peace, democracy, human rights and security in the region.

If the opposition takes control of parliament, Abkhazia will find itself in a situation similar to Pridnestrovie: In Tiraspol, the Supreme Council - PMR's parliament - is dominated by members of the opposition party "Renewal", headed by 38-year old lawyer Yevgeny Shevchuk who became Speaker after the opposition won a surprise majority in December 2005. The Republican Party and other backers of incumbent president Igor Smirnov are now in a minority in parliament.

Participating in Sunday's vote in Abkhazia, the observers include representatives of parliaments and civil society organizations from Italy, Poland, France, Belgium, Germany, Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara, Jordan, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and other countries. Following their work, the teams of international observers will issue a joint statement for European mass media and international organizations.(With information from Civil GE, VS PMR press service)

See also:
» Abkhazia signs treaty with Pridnestrovie; pushes for statehood recognition