Moldova's authorities should and can conduct local elections on the left bank of the Nistru, as this initiative would reanimate contacts between both sides of the river – this is one of the conclusions contained in the study “Basic principles of conducting second-level elections in Transnistria”, released on Wednesday, November 2, by the think-tank IDIS Viitorul, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the study, for local elections to be successful in the Transnistrian region it is necessary to solve a number of technical problems largely related to the administrative division and documentation of the population. “The current administrative division is artificial and absolutely inappropriate for the Transnistrian region. The district of Dubasari is a rather artificial entity, as it is largely composed of villages belonging to Criuleni district. At the same time, the villages situated on the left bank and the municipality of Tighina aren't part of Dubasari district. This is why Tighina should enjoy the status of a district center”, said Veaceslav Berbeca, the author of the study. According to the author, in order to guarantee the legitimacy of local elections in the region, both candidates and voters should be from the towns and villages that are not under Moldova's {de facto} control. “Technically, the voter rolls are likely to be compiled with a great degree of accuracy, at least in the case of Tighina municipality. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has a database on the Moldovan citizens living on the left side of the Nistru, including in Tighina”, noted Veaceslav Berbeca. According to the study, the easiest way for Chisinau would be to conduct local elections only for the voters residing in Tighina. Another solution would be to resort to additional voter lists, but this would also entail a risk of multiple voting. The study also recommends that Chisinau should allocate by law a number of seats in Moldova's Parliament for the citizens living in the Transnistrian region. The study “Basic principles of conducting second-level elections in Transnistria” is part of the IDIS Report on Crisis Prevention, which is published with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy.