VZCZCXRO9121
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHCH #0270/01 0931513
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031513Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7834
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000270 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PBTS MD
SUBJECT:  TRANSNISTRIAN PARTICIPATION IN MOLDOVAN 
ELECTIONS:  CORJOVA SCENESETTER 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please Protect 
Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Ten polling stations will be 
opened on the right bank for residents of 
Transnistria, and at least several thousand 
Transnistrians are expected to attempt to vote on 
April 5.  Additionally, a polling station will be 
opened in the village of Corjova, which is 
physically located on the left bank of the river 
but is officially under Moldovan central- 
government control.  In 2007 Transnistrian 
authorities succeeded in blocking attempts to 
carry out Moldovan elections in Corjova.  We have 
already seen signs of trouble this year.  Ballot 
boxes being delivered to Corjova were impounded. 
Transnistrian Cossacks have threatened to use "all 
means necessary" to prevent voting from taking 
place in Corjova.  The Ministry of Reintegration 
sent a letter to the Embassy (and other 
participants in the 3-plus-2), asking observers to 
pay special attention to elections in Corjova. 
Embassy plans to have two separate observer teams 
visit Corjova.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Ten Polling Stations for TN Residents, plus 
Corjova 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
- 
 
¶2. (SBU) No polling stations will be opened on the 
territory of controlled by Transnistrian 
authorities for voting in the April 5 Moldovan 
elections.  However, on March 10, the Central 
Electoral Commission (CEC) ruled that ten polling 
stations would be opened on the right bank for 
residents of Transnistria (left bank) and those 
residing in the security zone.  These ten 
locations are Sanatauca, Rezina, Cocieri, 
Dorotcaia, Varnita (2), Hagimus, Rascaieti, 
Copanca, and Firladeni.  Some residents of 
Transnistria loyal to Moldova are expected to 
participate.  They will be required to travel 
significant distances in order to vote.  Although 
official GOM statistics claim that there are 
223,580 eligible voters in Transnistria, the 
number of active voters is far more modest, having 
doubled from 4,298 in 2001 to 8,206 in 2005. 
While there is no way to estimate in advance how 
many Transnistrian residents will attempt to vote 
on Sunday, one can assume that at least several 
thousand will make the effort. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Additionally, the Dubasari Raion Council 
decided to open a polling station in Corjova, a 
village of the right-bank Dubasari raion.  Corjova 
is located on the left bank, but is under Moldovan 
central-government control.  It is President 
Voronin's home town.  It is a particularly 
sensitive spot, because Transnistrian authorities 
reject the central government's control of Corjova 
and consider it to be a part of the Transnitrian 
area of Dubasari.  During the June 2007 local 
elections, a polling station was opened in 
Corjova, but Transnistrian police and security 
forces surrounded the village, blockaded the 
polling station, assaulted the building and used 
force to prevent voting there.  Given the 
incidents that took place during the 2007 
elections, there are concerns that Corjova may 
once again become a flashpoint for electoral 
confrontation. 
 
Corjova Heating Up 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Several incidents have already taken 
place that suggest it will not be smooth sailing 
for  elections in Corjova or for left-bank 
residents wishing to cross to the right bank to 
vote.  On March 19, the ballot boxes being 
transported by Corjova Mayor Mitul to the polling 
station were seized by the Transnistrian "customs" 
office, labeled as contraband and confiscated.  On 
March 26 the Transnistrian Cossacks issued a 
statement warning that they would prevent "with 
 
CHISINAU 00000270  002 OF 002 
 
 
all available means" any attempts to campaign 
and/or conduct Moldovan parliamentary elections in 
Transnistria's Dubasari Raion.  The Cossacks noted 
that they were particularly concerned about 
possible voting in Corjova.  The Transnistrian 
Dubasari administration issued a decree that the 
school building intended for use as a polling 
station would be impounded and sold to pay off tax 
debts. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ministry of Reintegration informed 
the Joint Control Commission (JCC) of the decision 
to open the ten polling stations on the right bank 
for Transnistrian residents and to open a polling 
station in Corjova.  Given the difficulties of the 
2007 elections in Corjova, the Ministry called on 
the military observers to monitor the situation in 
the Security Zone and ensure the free movement of 
people to the polling places.  According to press 
reports, the Transnistrian side said that it 
rejected the opening of a polling station in 
Corjova and refused to guarantee the security of 
Corjova residents who took part in the elections. 
The Russian delegation also opposed the opening of 
an electoral sector in Corjova, saying that doing 
so could make the situation in the Security Zone 
tense. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The human rights monitoring NGO Promo-Lex 
noted that the ten polling stations open for 
Transnistrians were the only polling stations in 
the Republic of Moldova which lacked voter lists. 
Additionally, the NGO noted that voters who lived 
in Transnistria did not have adequate access to 
information about the candidates or their 
electoral programs.  In the rest of Moldova people 
could vote in their own villages, but the ten 
polling stations were miles from the residents' 
homes and most of the people did not own cars. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Embassy plans to have two teams attempt 
to monitor the situation in Corjova and other 
nearby villages on elections day.  This will give 
us a first-hand report on the events. 
 
CHAUDHRY