CEC constituted the Protocol Office of Observers (OPO) on January 25, 2005. The tasks of OPO include: organisation of meeting and accommodation of observers; organisation of registration of accrediting documents with the Foreign Ministry and issuing of observer’s identity papers; coordination of trips of international observers to electoral councils with CEC; coordination of actions for ensuring the activity of observers with CEC; collection of information about elections from international observers and its generalisation; organisation of briefings for international observers.
CEC trains electoral functionaries
CEC organised a training seminar for electoral functionaries from district electoral councils and representatives of public institutions (the Interior Ministry, Energy Ministry, Ministry of Transportation and Communication and Information Technologies Department) aimed to ensure a good conduct of the electoral process were also invited. CEC chairman Petru Railean formulated concrete tasks for heads of electoral councils and directors of institutions participating in ensuring the conduct of elections: to hold an activity in compliance with provisions of legislation; to ensure equal conditions for all electoral competitors; to spend financial resources only in line with destination; to ensure the transparency of the electoral process; to arrange special places for electoral advertising; to keep a record of financial resources of electoral competitors, so that not to admit an exceeding of the limit established by CEC; to contribute to the right issuing of voters’ lists; to ensure the respect for the decision not to admit policemen closer than at 100 metres from the polling station without invitation of chairmen of the polling stations and not to allow them to hold firearms.
The CEC chairman expressed regret that “now our situation looks like the situation of a child who was not born yet but he is already libelled as handicapped and influenced by somebody” (based on BASA-Press news).
The Law Department of the Democratic Moldova Bloc (BMD) unveiled “evidence regarding falsification of the current electoral process in Moldova. The head of this department and the representative of BMD in CEC, Mr. Nicolae Garbu, accused the acting government, ruling competitor, some media institutions and even the CEC of flagrant violations. BMD disputed promptly these cases through appeals, contestations, requests submitted to CEC, prosecutor’s office and courts.”
BMD considers that its appeals “have already produced some effects, and this demonstrates the reality of violations… In order to prevent the further degradation of situation and, as a result, the falsification of elections, BMD considers the urgent arrival of international observers in Moldova and the active monitoring of the campaign by civil organisations such as Coalition-2005 as very important”.
CEC released on January 25 a statement that its members have unanimously voted, warning public opinion and private mass media over the need to release true information about elections and its activity to public opinion. CEC invited representatives of electoral competitors to adopt a stance based on ethic principles of cooperation within activity of CEC.
A larger sitting of the Finance Ministry, attended by President Vladimir Voronin, analyzed the results of activity of this institution.
The sitting that mass media including public one widely mediated established that “the Finance Ministry will take into account the need to create 300,000 jobs, while the monthly medium salary will be increased up to 300 dollars. A three-fold rise of the pension and a two-fold increase of the number of students financed from the state budget must also be an important objective for the next period. This objective is real only if the state budget is doubled. In other words, the team of finance specialists must restructure its methods of work in the next four years, so that to ensure unconditionally the financial security of the country” (the January 26, 2005 issue of newspaper Moldova Suverana). It means that the Finance Ministry will implement the tasks formulated in the electoral platform of PCRM headed by chief of state. Opposition parties say that the PCRM promotes this way its electoral offer via mass media not in the columns ELECTIONS 2005.
The Social Democratic Party of Moldova (PSDM) announced that it intends to hold the Social Democratic Meeting on March 6, 2005, but directors of the National Palace and Opera and Ballet Theatre have refused to rent rooms in these institutions from unclear reasons. PSDM says that the refusal was influenced by the ruling party, “which uses all available mechanisms to obstruct the PSDM from holding its electoral campaign.”
PSDM intended “to invite a high number of adepts of Social Democrats from the country, as well as guests from Romania, Russia and members of the European Union at this meeting, but it cannot do this because the renting of an appropriate hall for such an event was refused.”
PSDM decided to notify the CEC and intentional structures “in connection with this new evidence of abuses of the ruling Communist Party”, and it is ready to hold the planned event in the square of the Opera and Ballet Theatre, if it does not obtain the place.
Sources in PSDM informed that a policeman who obstructed the meeting between party leaders and electors could not explain what normative document he follows to do this. According to the policeman, he was instructed to apply the provisions of the July 27, 1995 law # 560-XII on organisation and conduct of meetings. PSDM intends to demand explanations from CEC if the procedure from this law is effective for all electoral contestants during electoral propaganda or there are some privileged persons.
CEC annulled its decision confirming the quality of Vitalie Nagacevschi as representative of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PPCD) with consultative vote, on basis of a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice. Victor Constantinov will be the new representative of PPCD to CEC.
Mass media obstructed
A team from the TV channel Sor TV based in the Soroca city (a locality located at about 160 kilometres north of Chisinau) was banned access to an electoral event organised by the Moldovan Party of Communists in this city. A Sor TV reporter said that a man who refused to introduce himself and to present identity papers told journalists that their access to the event is prohibited because they do not hold official invitations. They were banned to attend a meeting of Speaker Eugenia Ostapciuc with electors in Soroca on January 20.
Monitoring report
The task force called Monitoring of Electoral Process in Coalition-2005 will present the second report on the electoral process at the news agency Infotag on January 27, 2005, at 10:00. The report covers the period December 3, 2004 — January 15, 2005.
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