Tiraspol, December 09 /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. In recent days, Chisinau authorities and their Western as well as Romanian allies have realized that they wouldn't manage to discredit the upcoming presidential elections in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Not only Pridnestrovian citizens from politicians and social activists to ordinary people are urged to come and vote for their President, but also many famous Russians strongly support Pridnestrovians’ right to freely express their will within the Pridnestrovian Constitution and laws framework.
Among them are the parliamentary parties leaders represented in the Russian State Duma. This’s a powerful factor.
Moreover, international observers began to arrive in the PMR, ready to work on December 12 in the same way as in elections in any other country of the world. Particularly, a delegation from Nagorno-Karabakh arrived, which has already been received by the PMR President. Russian citizens will arrive too, but perhaps not only them.
Against such a background, the Chisinau right-wing nationalist authorities became nervous. Therefore, they threw on scales their remaining informational ace in the hole with a couple of people, who sided with the so-called pro-Romanian political prisoners and regime victims, who in their appeals called on the RM’s President Maia Sandu not to let international observers enter the Pridnestrovian territory. Calls to spoil the ballot papers at polling stations are sounded only because of despair. However, it’s already clear that such a course didn’t have and won’t have any effect.
That’s why on December 8 the RM’s Reintegration Bureau statement appeared in the mass media, by which elections in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic were initially declared as invalid.
There’s nothing new since the Moldovan authorities have never recognized Pridnestrovian elections. However, earlier such statements sounded in many respects formally, but now each of them has been expressed against the intensified Western pressure on Russia. Chisinau’s pro-Western and at the same time pro-Romanian authorities are unconditionally supporting the USA, EU, and Romania in this confrontation; consequently, the Moldovan authorities’ pressure on Pridnestrovie is also growing.
It can be assumed that Chisinau is very worried about the fact that the PMR President’s elections will be unambiguously held calmly, casually, without any disruption as well as in the ordinary course. That is, strictly according to the law. Every necessary factor for this exists. Among them, there is a presence of two candidates, international observers, video cameras at the polling stations, the necessary sanitary regime, agitators’ speeches, and so on. Potential candidates’ attempts, who have declared themselves as opposition to imply the non-alternative elections which not look like convincing, because while collecting signatures in nominating it was necessary to be careful. It isn’t the first and the last time that candidates are being screened out due to the signatures’ problem and such a situation exists not only in Pridnestrovie.
The Reintegration Bureau believes that the December 12 elections will be held in conditions of non-compliance with international democratic standards, cases of systemic suppression of freedom of expression and opinions’ pluralism, the presence of strict information censorship in the region as well as other human rights violations. Such wording is easily and formally improvised because the official Chisinau is substituted by that information. As it is well known, in the Republic of Moldova quite recently, under an unconvincing pretext, Marina Tauber’s candidacy for the post of Balti town’s mayor, who takes a stand in opposition to the Maia Sandu party was withdrawn. It’s referred to a possible embargo on the party itself, which the inconvenient candidate belongs to. Moreover, according to mass media, the ruling party representatives submitted to the RM’s Parliament a draft law proposing the possibility of parliamentarians’ detention without a legislators’ sanction. Moreover, of course, it’s still weird to hear any exhortation about democracy from those who, with the special forces’ help, seize the Prosecutor General of their own country and imprison him to prevent the important information’s publication that is disapproved by current Chisinau’s highest levels...
In such a statement as: “We’re calling on international partners to refrain from statements, mass media coverage, election observers’ appointment or from other actions and contacts with Tiraspol representatives in this regard, in ordtode the so-called elections’ legitimization. Because such actions will be seen as a so-called challenge to the sovereignty as well as the Republic of Moldova territorial integrity and may also have counterproductive consequences for the Pridnestrovian settlement’s process” there’s an obvious shot toward Russia.
From a practical point of view, this also doesn’t make much sense, because Russian observers intend to arrive at the PMR for electoral work, but in the mass media of many world countries, the upcoming elections’ discussion is underway. However, Chisinau officials’ latest statements about their intention to review at the first opportunity the Russian-Moldovan agreement on gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova suggesting that the Pridnestrovian hitch could be used by right-wing nationalist authorities to create a conflict situation with Moscow. Of course, such a hitch is artificial but makes allowance for the opportunism some of Moldova’s highest levels representatives it can be actively used.
Undoubtedly, such attacks on the Pridnestrovian elections are at the same time intended to deflect the Moldovan residents’ attention from the country’s social problems. Firstly, this’s an increase in gas tariffs and all associating pricing policies. However, the attack on the elections in Pridnestrovie has a long-standing tradition in the Moldovan Beaumont in the period from 1990 to 1991 Chisinau tried to scare the Pridnestrovians and oblige them not to elect the Supreme Council’s first composition as well as the first PMR President. The military aggression of the year 1992 was largely because the Moldovan nationalist authorities were necessitated by a political and diplomatic impasse, in other words, the Pridnestrovian governance structures had already been formed through free democratic elections and it was too late to interfere with it. However, Chisinau didn’t want to conduct equal negotiations with them.
At the moment the situation is largely different, but the Chisinau tactics are still aimed at firstly, preventing free elections in Pridnestrovie since such elections establish a power with which the Moldovan partners will have to conduct a dialogue. Secondly, with the West’s help, the Moldovan leadership is trying to force Russia to refuse a participate in the Pridnestrovian electoral procedures through its observers. Nevertheless, elections will be held strictly according to the law and observers will come (possible attempts to prevent them from entering the PMR will only blowback on Moldovan authorities).
Therefore, it can be predicted that the attack on the Pridnestrovian elections won’t reach any result.
The material was prepared by Andrey Safonov, a political scientist
December 9, 2021
