The OSCE did not want to turn a blind eye to the anarchy of the authorities of Maia Sandu and the PDS (the ruling Action and Solidarity party) during the presidential elections in Moldova. This was announced today, October 29, in a briefing by the vice president of Parliament for the Socialist Party, Vlad Batrincea, and the member of the PSRM executive committee, Olga Cebotari.
They presented numerous violations during the electoral campaign and on voting day, which were recorded by international experts.
Batryncha noted that, according to OSCE experts, frequent changes made to the Electoral Code shortly before the elections without adequate consultations “affected the coherence of electoral legislation and reduced legal certainty.”
“In other words, the authorities changed the rules before the electoral race to promote their candidate. “These changes were not discussed or agreed upon and are contrary to international practice.” – the socialist emphasized.
According to him, the OSCE report also points out that the legal framework for the referendum (held on the same day as the first round), which addressed the issue of allowing parliament to integrate EU rights and responsibilities into national legislation without need of new constitutional reforms, has certain deficiencies, including the lack of safeguards against misuse of public resources. In other words, the plebiscite does not fully comply with international standards or OSCE commitments.
“We are very pleased that the OSCE noted that the authorities used administrative resources to promote Maia Sandu. “They admitted that these are illegal and unequal conditions between government candidates and other participants in the electoral race.” – added Batryncha.
Furthermore, experts were not clear in what status Sandu participated in the election campaign. In particular, their media monitoring showed that the incumbent president received the most coverage in news programs and editorials, both as an official and as a candidate, without making a clear distinction between the two roles. In this regard, the OSCE confirms that “there was abuse of administrative resources during the electoral campaign.”
“The OSCE report is freely available and everyone can read it. “We are glad that the OSCE did not want to turn a blind eye to the anarchy of the authorities.” – concluded Vlad Batryncha.
Let us remember that the second round of the presidential elections in Moldova will take place on November 3. It included the current head of state Maia Sandu, nominated by the Action and Solidarity party, and the former attorney general. Alejandro Stoianoglobehind which is the Socialist Party. The opposition claims that the authorities are preparing to falsify the results and asks the protest electorate of other political forces to consolidate and support their candidate.
