TIRASPOL. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The elections to the government bodies of the self-proclaimed Transdniestrian Republic on Sunday saw a record low voter turnout, fewer than 28%, the Transdniestrian Central Elections Commission said on Monday.
The de facto Transdniestrian authorities consider the election valid, as the unrecognized republic's legislation does not set a minimum voter turnover to validate elections there.
A total of 113,916 voters, or 27.7%, cast their ballots. The highest voter turnout was recorded in the Camenca district (over 40.8%) and the lowest in Bender (20.6%).
The number of members in the new Transdniestrian legislature, the Supreme Council, has been reduced to 33 from 43, for which 45 candidates aspired. Tentative reports indicate that most of the seats will be occupied by the incumbent lawmakers, including the speaker, Alexander Korshunov.
Most of the newly reelected lawmakers belong to the Renewal party, which is virtually the only one existing in the region. The party represents the Sherif corporation, which controls the entire business sector in the unrecognized republic.
A group of Russian parliamentarians monitored the elections and concluded that the voting complied with international democratic election standards.