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Starting Monday, March 30, electors who have lost or hold expired identity cards are welcome to apply to Population Registration and Documentation Offices for temporary identity cards F-9, which mention the Moldovan citizenship and residence of the holder. Iurie Ciocan, secretary of the Central Electoral Commission, has noted that this is the first time when such documents are issued a week before the Election Day. During last elections, three days only were allocated for this purpose. Also on Monday, the Central Electoral Commission said that after the April 5 parliamentary elections, people will be able to apply free of charge for annexes to identity cards on which the special stamp “ELECTIONS 05.04.09” will be applied. This decision comes after some citizens did not agree with the setting of this stamp on annexes to their identity cards. (Source: Moldpres)

The TV stations Moldova-1, NIT, N4 and Eu TV keep showing a biased attitude towards political players contrary to legal regulations and professional norms, and this fact continues to affect the pluralism of opinions and political-social equilibrium, which are “so necessary for election coverage.” This conclusion is drawn from findings of monitoring the political players coverage in TV programmes aired by 7 out of 9 TV stations (+ Prime and 2 Plus which do not cover the electoral campaign), proceeded by a group of nongovernmental organisations under aegis of the Electronic Press Association (APEL) during March 4–17, 2009. APEL released the findings of the third report on monitoring of TV stations in electoral campaign at a press conference on Monday, March 30. The monitored TV stations keep ignoring legal regulations on coverage of electoral campaign in news programmes and Eu TV and N4 in aired programmes. The findings of the monitoring report reveal that Pro TV, TV7 and TVC 21 practise journalism close to deontological norms. The 7 TV stations aired most of advertising of the following electoral candidates before March 17, 2009: PLDM, PCRM, AMN and PSD. Monitors signal that some unidentified advertising spots were aired in the period concerned. They were aired first by two TV stations (N4 and NIT) on March 10, and other channels have further done the same. The project “Monitoring the presence of political/electoral players on main TV channels in pre-electoral, electoral and post-electoral period of the 2009 parliamentary elections” is funded by the European Commission Delegation to Moldova, co-funded by Soros-Moldova Foundation and is developed within the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections Coalition-2009. (Source: Info-Prim)

Former president of Moldova Petru Lucinschi is inviting electors to vote for a change of generation at the April 5 parliamentary elections. Lucinschi has told a press conference held by the Civic Congress of NGOs that he is calling upon all elderly from Moldova to realise that a change of generations will start on April 5 in Moldova. “I am calling upon elderly to vote for young people and let them rule the country. I am glad that we have talented, well-educated and patriotic young people of 30–40 years old and I am sure that they will be able to rule the country,” Lucinschi stated. He invited young people from Moldova to be aware that the future is in their hands. According to Lucinschi, there is an election fraud risk. “I am calling upon civil society, political parties and observers to be very careful on the Election Day and to prevent the election fraud. Perhaps we will be unable to combat this phenomenon completely, but at least we will not allow the fulfilment of all plans,” the second Moldova’s president added. (Source: Infotag)

The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM) accuses the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PPCD) of organising diversions against PLDM. According to a communication released by PLDM, announcements inviting people at mayoralty where the PLDM will allegedly “disseminate material assistance to all families and people in need having more than two children, to 1st, 2nd and 3rd-degree disable people, retirees etc.” have been displayed in the last days in many localities where the PLDM is set to meet electors. The PLDM assures that it has nothing in common with these announcements “and it was found out after researches that they have been disseminated by PPCD representatives.” “All these actions aim to denigrate the PLDM image and make an impression that we bribe voters. We will formally apply to the Central Electoral Commission to sanction PPCD for these dirty techniques against PLDM,” reads the communication. (Source: Infotag)

The Balti-based branch of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM) is calling upon local political parties to make common cause a week left until parliamentary elections. The call was released in the context of assaults on representatives of the “Moldova Noastra” Alliance (AMN) and an independent councillor by a young group who are members to the Pankration Sport Club. The PDM condemns what it calls “bandit actions.” The leader of the Balti-based PDM staff, Ion Bodrug, said that this private sport club enjoys the support of local communists and local authorities ruled by the communists. In this situation, we incline to think that the hooliganism actions are directed by local communists, Bodrug added. (Source: Deca-Press)

The “Moldova Noastra” Alliance (AMN) promises that investigating corruption and violation of human rights committed by incumbent governing will be the first step it will take as ruling party. The AMN parliamentary faction submitted a legislative initiative on Monday, March 30, which seeks the establishing of an investigative commission “to elucidate consequences of the dictatorial regime of Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin.” According to AMN chairman Serafim Urechean, the commission shall be maximally competent and fair and its operation shall be very transparent. For this reason it will be made of qualified jurists, international law experts, and civil society. The same day, the AMN appealed to the Prosecutor-General’s Office to open criminal charges following press statements delivered by the former director-general of the Moldova-Vin Department and manager of the cognac-making company Aroma, Semion Leva. He has stated to a periodical that starting 2003, the company has fallen in the circle of interests of Oleg Voronin, the son of President Voronin. A tax was allegedly set for each bottle manufactured by the enterprise for using the “Belai Aist” brand, and this tax went to a PCRM fee fund controlled by the president himself. This way, the state budget has lost more than 20 million dollars in 5 years. (Source: Info-Prim)

The Community of Moldovans from Romania has addressed a supporting message to the chairman of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM), Vladimir Voronin, before the April 5 parliamentary elections. “On the eve of the Moldovan parliamentary elections, we bring you our support and sincerely wish you good luck, strength and health,” reads the message. The letter expresses confidence that Moldovans will vote for continuity, identity and prosperity. “We assure you this way of highest sentiments of consideration and gratitude for all you have done as President of Moldova for Moldovans from everywhere,” reads the message by the Community of Moldovans from Romania. (Source: Moldpres)

The Centrist Union of Moldova (UCM) fears that there are premises for falsification of the April 5 parliamentary elections. UCM leader Vasile Tarlev told a press conference on March 30 that 150,000 people were complimentarily included into voter rolls. “We all know that the death rate in Moldova has grown and the birth rate has declined starting 1987 and that’s why it is very strange where these people came from,” Tarlev said. He noted that starting November 2008 the people who have died were not deleted from voter rolls. “In fact, the ballots of these people could be falsified. We will think that the elections were falsified should the Party of Communists win more than 20 percent at these elections, and we will take appropriate actions,” Tarlev stressed. He underlined that surveys which do not credit the UCM with chances to enter the future Parliament are false. The UCM leader added that his party will not make any coalition in the future legislature with parties which betrayed the country. (Source: Infotag)

The leader of the “Moldova Noastra” Alliance (AMN) has asked international observers to check reports that a secret printing company of the “Voronin clan” has printed 150,000 ballot papers which could be used to falsify elections. On the other hand, representatives of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) assure that these affirmations lack a legal basis and are not argued. “The CEC has organised a tender and selected two printing companies: the Central Typography and Universul. Only these two printing houses print the ballot papers,” said CEC Secretary Iurie Ciocan. He added that “the printing of ballot papers is supervised by accredited observers.” (Source: Info-Prim / Omega portal)

On Monday, March 30, the Central Electoral Commission accredited international observers to monitor the parliamentary elections on April 5, 2009, as follows: 19 international observers on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; 75 international observers on behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly; 62 international observers and 20 interpreters on behalf of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR); one international observer on behalf of the Observation Mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States. (Source: CEC communication)

The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM) has persecuted in national law courts and European Court for Human Rights the illegal and abusive actions by Voronin regime which restricted the freedom of circulation of Bessarabian students from Iasi and Romanian citizens who hold European passports. According to a press release, the PLDM says that actions by the communist governing, which permanently violated the rights and fundamental freedoms of citizens, do not comply with any legal and moral norms. On March 22, state authorities via the Border Guard Service restricted own citizens to enter their country, demanding explanations why they came back home. The more than 50 students were travelling to Chisinau to attend the PLDM-held meeting “Do Not Be Afraid of Voting”. Two Romanian citizens, Radu Popescu and Razvan Cazacu, who were part of the PLDM electoral technical staff, were expelled. In connection with these actions, the PLDM has submitted a memoirs to the European Commission and European Parliament concerning developments at the border with the EU, illegalities committed by the communist governing, particularly since the beginning of the electoral campaign, asking European organisations to take into account the fact that these actions are the communist regime’s convulsions and do not represent the position and will of population. (Source: PLDM press release)

The “Actiunea Europeana” (European Action) Movement (MAE) is publicly protesting against abuses committed by the communist regime against MAE. Last time, the PCRM committed abuses against MAE on Sunday, March 30 in Balti, where the communist local administration obstructed an electoral concert organised by MAE. Thus, representatives of the power network instructed by the PCRM restricted the energy supply to let music bands perform a concert. The abuse was part of a larger PCRM campaign against MAE which also includes the restriction of the music band Class and pop singer Anda Adam to enter the Republic of Moldova. We recall that both Class and Anda Adam were expected to perform two electoral concerts organised by MAE. The two Romanian troupes had all necessary documents to enter Moldova, inclusively a contract signed with MAE representatives. However, border guards from the Leuseni border station summoned them to go back, restricting them abusively to enter Moldova. The MAE condemns the dirty and violent campaign against itself and considers that this is a consequence of the anti-corruption fight held by MAE, which troubled all compromised politicians. (Source: MAE press release)

The Civic Initiative for a Clean Parliament (ICPC) has issued a list of 47 candidates with integrity-related problems; of them 30 represent the Party of Communists (PCRM). “The moral integrity of these persons raises certain questions. It does not mean credited, discredited,” the executive director of the Independent Press Association, Petru Macovei, has told a news conference. Forty journalists have studied the lists of electoral contestants and the Civic Initiative for a Clean Parliament has further delivered the findings to a group of jurists in order to check them, coordinated them with parties which accepted to cooperate and published themRO. The list of ICPC does not include any candidate on behalf of the Liberal Party, and reveals a doubtful behaviour of six candidates representing the Centrist Union, two of the Democratic Party, and four of the PPCD. The booklet was published in a 200,000-copy circulation and will be disseminated by the 7 nongovernmental organisations which are part of the Civic Initiative for a Clean Parliament. (Source: Info-Prim)

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has authorised Moldovan citizens to participate in the April 5, 2009 elections on the basis of expired identity cards. According to data provided by the Ministry of Information Development, 131,000 citizens hold expired identity cards. The decision to allow this category of people to cast their ballots comes to complete the CEC efforts to provide as many as possible Moldovan citizens with the possibility to participate in elections this year. As well, the Commission announces the possibility for electors to apply free of charge after the April 5, 2009 parliamentary elections for new annexes to identity cards on which the special stamp “ELECTIONS 05.04.09” will be applied. (Source: CEC communication)

The director of the Institute for Public Policy (IPP), Arcadie Barbarosie, has announced hat an exit poll will take place nationwide on April 5, 2009, from 07:00 a.m. “Arbitrarily selected voters will be taken immediately after having exited the polling station and asked some questions, will be provided a questionnaire similar to the ballot paper, asked to vote one more time and introduce it into a sealed box. The survey will cover 8,000–10,000 voters if the exiting from polling stations will be 60 percent.” He noted that the polls at the scene will be conducted by two sociological agencies, CBS AXA and IMAS Inc. “In 2005, when the first exit poll was conducted, 14–15 percent of the voters disagreed to participate in the survey, and now we estimate that this rate will be below 10 percent.” The IPP director invited people not to be afraid of participating in the poll. “We have launched an information campaign, four advertising spots to explain the exit poll and its goal to electors. We note that the results of the poll which will be released on April 5 at 9:00 p.m. are just estimates.” Approximately 800 persons will conduct this poll. The exit poll is organised with the financial assistance of Eurasia Foundation from resources provided by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the United State Agency for International Development (USAID). (Source: Infotag)

Aggressiveness of the governing and certain opposition parties which tax each other confuses citizens and this may give birth to a massive absenteeism, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), Dumitru Diacov, told a press conference on Monday, March 30. On this background, we observe some interests to disorientate people or the governing exercises pressures via all chiefs and petty chiefs with the purpose to keep the rule at all costs, Diacov noted. The PLDM leader stressed that democratic parties will check reports at polling stations but they will be unable to control the delivery of elections’ results to CEC, as structures of the Ministry for Information Development and concrete persons with concrete tasks are interposed on this segment. The PDM commissioned a known institution to conduct an internal survey and the findings do not coincide with the recent survey, Diacov underlined. In particular, the PDM survey reveals that the communists will win 26 percent of the votes, while results for four democratic parties indicate another state of things, starting with the order of candidates and ending with garnered percent. The PDM claims that doubts related to quality and purpose of the recently released survey are also confirmed by the fact that the same institutions were entrusted to conduct the exit polls, and this may be an artificial confirmation of elections results. Given the election fraud risks, the PDM warns the public opinion in this regard and fears that this would misrepresent the people’s expectations and may destabilise the internal social-political situation. (Source: PDM press release)

More than 7,000 people gave green light to a call by the “Actiunea Europeana” (European Action) Movement (MAE) to attend a march against corruption and abuses by the communist police state, organised in Chisinau on Sunday, March 29, 2009. The MAE march covered the itinerary Calea Iesilor — Stefan cel Mare — Vlaicu Parcalab and ended with a meeting at the conference hall of Leogrand Hotel. Protestors who arrived from all areas of Moldova shouted slogans against corrupt communist regime such as “Corruption Go Away from the Country!”, “Down with PCRM!”; “Down with Corrupts!”, “Expel Us, Too!”. MAE chairman Anatol Petrencu spoke out about ongoing anti-corruption fight. “The corruption is our enemy in the battle for European Moldova. The corruption is to blame for abuses and all evil in Moldova, while the communists have raised the corruption to the level of state policy. The corruption is an internal organ like liver for the communists and their acolytes,” Petrencu stated. In her turn, Vitalia Pavlicenco, lawmaker and MAE nominate to the office of Parliament speaker, stressed the MAE fight against corruption and communism: “We, the MAE, we have succeeded to coagulate the force of 5 democratic parties which joined the National Pact Against Corruption. The MAE made available this document to civil society, which appreciated our commitments on anti-corruption actions as aimed to build a state based on the rule of law, democratic and open to European values.” (Source: MAE press release)

The corruption in The Republic of Moldova is a generally recognised phenomenon and does not need any proving, says the leader of the Party of Spiritual Development “Moldova Unita” (PDSMU), Ana Tcaci. She has stated to Info-Prim Neo that it is unnecessary to persuade the public opinion of disastrous effects of this phenomenon on normal development of society, moral and spiritual degradation of a nation. “Like any other phenomenon, the corruption has certain sources. The corruption is born in a favourable environment. The sources of corruption are: advanced poverty of population, imperfect legislation, political class ruling the society on client-based principle, leading of the judiciary by will of governors, and perhaps the most important, the lack of a mechanism for civil society to control and influence the governing,” Tcaci noted. In conclusion, the PDSMU leader continued, the incumbent governing failed and will fail in front of this scourge, adding that this governing “carries all responsibility for causes which give birth to corruption in our society.” (Source: Info-Prim)

During the second round of the football match between national teams of Moldova and Switzerland hosted by Zimbru sport arena in Chisinau last weekend, a newscaster announced the presence of chief of state Vladimir Voronin. In reply, watchers started clamouring. Oh… was the sound which thundered the stands for tens of minutes when the name of Vladimir Voronin was announced. The guests won 2:0 the qualifying match for the 2010 World Championship. (Source: Unimedia)