alegeri.md

Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Gagauzia Chairman Valentin Cara announced about some irregularities in the signature sheets submitted to the CEC by contestants for the position of Bashkan. The irregularities included, in particular, completion of signature sheets not by the signatories themselves and not even by persons authorized by them. In addition, some of the signatures looked similar, doubling one another, and some signatures were given by persons younger than 18 years old.

The CEC mentioned that some signatures had been given on 20 and 22 January, although signature sheets were issued on 23 January. Not all signatures were accepted as valid. The most signatures have been gathered by Irina Vlah (1,966), Alexandr Stoianoglo (1,887), Oleg Garizan (1,712), and Valerii Ianioglo (1,708). They are followed by Nicolai Dudoglo (1,697 signatures) and Serghei Cernev (1,676). On the threshold of acceptance were Oleg Caici (1,508 valid signatures), Serghei Buzadji (1,507), and Ruslan Garbali (1,502). Candidates for the position of Governor of Gagauzia will be included into ballots in the same order as they were registered.

CEC Chairman Valentin Cara told journalists that the registered candidates for Bashkan will receive their credentials on Monday at 13.00. From that moment, they will be able to officially conduct campaign activities. // gagauzinfo.md

The Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia adopted the decision to create district electoral councils for the elections of the Governor of Gagauzia and approved their personnel. The councils are to organize and conduct elections of Bashkan in three electoral districts — Comrat, Ceadir-Lunga, and Vulcanesti.

The Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia (CECG) adopted several decisions concerning the elections of the head of the autonomy:

• on the placement of electoral advertising on billboards during the electoral period;
• on the maximum amount of funds to be used by candidates in the elections of the Governor of Gagauzia (MDL 2 million);
• on the creation of electoral funds of candidates for the position of Governor of Gagauzia;
• on the newspaper surface to be provided to contestants in the elections of the Governor of Gagauzia.

Civil society organizations are worried by the crisis in the management of the regional public broadcasting company “Gagauz RadioTelevizionu” (GRT).

The restriction of GRT capacities to perform its duties of covering the electoral campaign for the upcoming elections, which might be caused by the crisis in the company’s management, could violate the constitutional rights of voters and candidates to disseminate and receive information about the electoral process. Organizations are appealing to the governing bodies of GRT to find a solution for this crisis and to ensure stable management of the company in the period of organization and conduct of elections.

The declaration has been supported by the “Piligrim-Demo” Gagauzia Youth Center, the Association of Independent Press (AIP), the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), and the Association of Electronic Press (APEL). // piligrim-demo.org.md