Trans-Dniester to hold election

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Sunday, 10 December 2006,

05:26 GMT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trans-Dniester

to hold election

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Petru Clej

BBC News

 

 

 

 

The breakaway

Trans-Dniester region of Moldova is voting in elections, with incumbent President Igor Smirnov tipped

to win five more years in power.

Mr Smirnov, who has held the job for the past 16 years, has said

he will retire only when the region achieves full international recognition.

In a September referendum, 97% voted to join the Russian Federation and 94%

rejected reintegration with Moldova.

No country recognised the results, but Russia called the

vote " free and fair " .

The other three candidates on the ballot are:

·

Petr

Tomaily, a businessman and member of the regional parliament

·

Nadezhda

Bondarenko, a journalist and head of the Transdniester Communist Party

·

Andrey

Safonov, an opposition journalist.

Ties with Russia

Igor Smirnov has ruled the region ever since it broke away from Moldova in September

1990.

Russian forces based in the region are

reported to have intervened on the side of secessionist forces when a brief

civil war broke out in 1992.

Russian troops are still present in Trans-Dniester, in defiance

of an agreement signed in 1999 at the summit of the Organization for Security

and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which envisaged a complete military

withdrawal within three years.

The region's population of about

555,000, is mostly Slavic - Russians 30%, Ukrainians 29% - compared with

Moldovans 32%, according to the 2004 census. The majority have always

favoured close ties with Moscow.

In Sunday's

election, a candidate needs an absolute majority of votes cast in order

to win, otherwise the top two candidates compete in a run-off.

There have been no opinion polls, but correspondents say

Igor Smirnov is in a strong position to win in the first round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6218786.stm

 

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