Tiraspol, 15 March. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. On Monday, 13 March, President of the Abkhazian Republic Raul Khadzhimba received a delegation of international observers from Pridnestrovie.
As we have reported, the delegation, which was monitoring the parliamentary election, included chair of the Pridnestrovian Central Election Commission Yelena Gorodetskaya head of the Supreme Council's committee on economic policy, budget and finance Alexander Korshunov and adviser to the Supreme Council's speaker Sergey Shirokov.
«Thank you for your participation in this election. I believe our relations will be developing as before. It is very important for us, and I have no doubt that's what will be," said Khadzhimba.
Yelena Gorodetskaya, in turn, thanked the president for the opportunity to monitor Abkhazia's parliamentary election, saying the mission was both responsible and pleasant.
«All conditions had been created to enable all voters to freely express their will. And [there was] an atmosphere of benevolence. We talked to both candidates and their representatives and ordinary voters — all of them were expressing amicability. This is a big success because it is not always possible to achieve it," said Yelena Gordetskaya.
She recalled that the Pridnestrovian delegation had visited more than 20 polling stations and highly praised the election. There were no serious violations of national legislation and international election standards, according to her.
«The election was open and transparent, without any pressure or attempts to manipulate the voters' will. The fact that the second round of voting will be held is a purely objective phenomenon enshrined in national legislation and the result of the specific processes that took place in many constituencies," Gorodetskaya underscored.
According to her, experts from the PMR would study the Abkhazian experience of organising elections.
Supreme Council member Alexander Korshunov noted that relations between the two states continue to develop with 30 interstate agreements being signed as for today. He wished the people of Abkhazia to live in stability, peace and concord.
On 12 March the Republic of Abkhazia held the election to the People's Assembly. Eight women and 130 men ran for the parliament in 35 single-member constituencies. 114 candidates were nominated by initiative groups of voters and 24 by political parties.
12 MPs were elected in the first round as the election was recognised valid in all 35 constituencies. The second round will take place on 26 March in 22 constituencies.
