Smirnov candidate defeated in by-election for Transnistria parliament

Disappointed: Marina Smirnova, daughter-in-law of President Igor Smirnov, tried getting herself a seat in parliament ...but lost

SLOBOZYA (Tiraspol Times) - Valeri Ponomarenko, the youngest of five candidates for a vacant seat in Pridnestrovie's parliament, trounced his four opponents in Sunday's by-election south of Tiraspol by winning with 70% of the vote.

With Valeri Ponomarenko's victory, democratic punishment was metered out by voters to parliamentary hopeful Marina Smirnova, daughter-in-law of incumbent PMR President Igor Smirnov. TV appearances and an expensive ad campaign failed to convince the 8,000 voters in the Blizhnykhutorskoy electoral district #24 that Marina Smirnova deserved a seat in their country's legislature.

By-elections took place to fill the vacant seat of MP Peter Stepanov, who in January 2007 appointed Minister of Industry in Pridnestrovie's cabinet. According the the PMR Constitution, serving cabinet ministers are now allowed to hold other public office - such as being legislators - and Stepanov resigned his seat in parliament.

The winner of the 10 June 2007 by-elections for parliament, Valeri Ponomarenko, was born in Tiraspol in 1971. He is an economist and the youngest of the five candidates competing for the seat. He is married to a local girl and has a small son who was born after Pridnestrovie declared its independence in 1990.

A total of 7,969 registered voters were eligible to cast their ballots in this district. 4,011 of them did so, leading to a voters turnout of 50.5%. Turnout was twice the legal limit for declaring the election valid, as for local and parliamentary elections, a minimum voter turnout of 25% is required.

Valeri Ponomarenko, 36, was born in Tiraspol. He is an economist and the newest member of PMR's Parliament (Photo: VS PMR)

The new MP has previously worked under the man whose seat he replaces, former MP Peter Stepanov: Since November, 1997 he has been employed with the company Tiraspoltransgas where he worked his way up through the ranks from material and technical support engineer to become Assistant General Manager for marketing. In 2002, after having attended night school in Tiraspol, Ponomarenko obtained a graduate degree in economics.

She didn't see it coming

Getting a severe thrashing at the hands of the electorate was a nasty surprise for Marina Smirnova and her campaign team from the Patriotic Party of Pridnestrovie, PPP, which is headed by her husband Oleg Smirnov, the younger son of Pridnestrovie's current president.

The surprise victory of Valeri Ponomarenko was unexpected by Smirnova, who had spent most of her time campaigning against fourth place finisher Alexander Radchenko.

PPP's campaign staff viewed former MP Alexander Radchenko as their most dangerous opponent. The head of Pridnestrovie's Social Democrats, Radchenko leads the only party in Pridnestrovie which campaigns on a platform advocating a common state with neighboring Moldova.

Before the campaign, Marina Smirnova appealed to the district election commission and to a local court to have Radchenko's campaign ads stopped from airing on TV. Smirnova argued that by using anti-independence rhetoric, Radchenko was engaging in behavior aimed at undermining the integrity of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (PMR).

The election commission turned her down and allowed Radchenko to continue his campaign. The Slobozya District Law Court of Pridnestrovie also found against Marina Smirnova and ruled that a 15 minute videotaped campaign ad for candidate Alexander Rachenko should be allowed to air nationwide on state TV. In its findings, the court weighed the constitutional right to free speech against elections laws forbidding "calls to the disturbance."

Voters reject Smirnov's preferred candidate

Although being backed by the unrecognized country's president, Marina Smirnova suffered a crushing defeat to a local born candidate whom voters viewed as a non-political technocrat.

Igor Smirnov, a former political prisoner, is a staunch independence leader and anti-Communist. Seen as a guarantee of independence, he is widely popular with voters, having won re-election in the December 2006 presidential elections.

Family members, supporters and other in Smirnov's entourage fare less well: In the latest country-wide parliamentary elections, voters deserted pro-Smirnov parties and voted overwhelmingly for the Renewal party, giving a surprise win to the opposition and leaving supporters of President Igor Smirnov with a minority in parliament. Following the surprise victory, Renewal-leader Yevgeny Shevchuk, 38, was elected Speaker of Parliament.

Sunday's pounding was the second time Marina Smirnova got defeated while attempting to seek a place in parliament. She also stood as a candidate in the 2005 parliamentary elections but lost alongside numerous other supporters of Igor Smirnov.

Tiraspol-based news agency New Region reports that members of the Patriotic Party of Pridnestrovie (PPP) attempted to have the election declared invalid, claiming that there had been fraud. The district election commission refused these charges on the basis of lack of evidence of any fraud.

When the preliminary results became clear, PPP's representatives and the Smirnova campaign realized that the gap between their candidate's 16% and the winner's 70% was too large for them to have a chance of overturning the voters' verdict. Published exit polls by the Independent Center of Analytical Studies "New Century" also confirmed the veracity of the results. Subsequently they withdrew their fraud allegations and congratulated the winning candidate on a free and fair election.

See also:
» Smirnova loses in PMR court to anti-independence opposition candidate
» Moldova elections not free and fair, opposition protests

10 June 2007 By-election for PMR Parliament, district #24