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According to a press release, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is organizing a meeting with the leaders of political parties registered as electoral contestants and with independent candidates for the parliamentary elections of 30 November 2014. The meeting will take place on Saturday, 29 November, at 14.00, in the conference hall of the CEC (119 V. Aleksandri Street, 3rd floor). The event will be devoted to a preliminary examination of the organization of parliamentary elections by the Central Electoral Commission. // CEC

Renato Usatii, head of the list of candidates for the “Patria (Homeland)” Party, left Moldova. It was announced in a video posted online by the politician and confirmed at a press conference held by the party’s representatives. According to them, Usatii left the country so as to avoid being detained by authorities, after the Court of Appeal decided yesterday, 27 November, to exclude “Patria” from the electoral list for the reason of it having used funds from abroad in the electoral campaign, contrary to the current legislation, and to confiscate those funds. // IPN

According to a press release, the US Embassy in Chisinau took note of the Court of Appeal decision to exclude the “Patria (Homeland)” Party from the electoral race. The embassy, however, mentioned that it has no knowledge of all the evidence taken into consideration by the Court of Appeal in this case, and appealed to all the parties involved to abide by the current legislation and to allow Moldovan citizens to make their democratic choice on 30 November in peace and in compliance with international standards and democratic principles.

Also, the Ministry of External Affairs of the Russian Federation announced in a press release that the exclusion of “Patria” from the electoral race raises doubt about the democracy of these elections. “We hope that the organizers of exclusion of ‘Patria’ from elections are not aiming to arrange results based on their own convictions of European integration and that Moldovan voters will have the possibility to make decisions independently, in a democratic manner and without any pressure,” the release says.

The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) filed a complaint to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) against the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), saying that over the past two weeks several national broadcasters, including Prime TV, ProTV, Canal 3, Canal 2 Plus, Publika TV and others, regularly aired, as advertising, the announcement about the concerts of 26 and 27 November in the Great National Assembly Square with the participation of local and international performers. According to the PCRM, the advertisements about the concerts did not mention their electoral aspect: they did not bear the note of “Paid from the electoral fund” and were not broadcast as an “Elections 2014” segment, so viewers were misled by the invitation to participate in a cultural, and not electoral, event.

In this context, the PCRM is asking the CEC to issue a warning to the PDM for violating electoral legislation and to obligate it to abide by the provisions of the Electoral Code.

The Promo-LEX Association presented, at a press conference, the fourth report on monitoring the parliamentary elections of 30 November 2014. According to the report, an important problem of the electoral process is non-declaration of income by electoral contestants. “There still are several hours until bank accounts are closed. We are notifying all electoral contestants that they should make use of their rights and obligations and include in their last statements all relevant funds,” said Pavel Postica, head of the Promo-LEX monitoring effort. According to this report, the largest incomes in this electoral campaign were obtained by the Democratic Party (PDM), the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), the “Patria” Party, the Party of Socialists (PSRM), the Party of Communists (PCRM) and the Liberal Party (PL). At the same time, none of the electoral contestants exceeded the threshold of 55 million lei, established by the CEC. Only the PDM and the PLDM reached about 54% of the maximum amount established by the CEC.

In addition, during the monitoring period, the CEC analyzed and issued statements on 14 complaints from contestants and two police notifications. The complaints concerned the violation of provisions concerning the use of administrative resources, non-withdrawal from public office, unauthorized placement of electoral advertisements, and use of electoral materials without the necessary marking.

The number of ballots for the elections of 30 November 2014 has been increased with 1,400 units. A draft decision in this regard has been approved today by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). According to a CEC representative, the request came from three voting places in Chisinau: the Dermatovenerology Clinic, the Narcology Clinic and the Psychiatric Hospital.

The CEC previously announced that 3,226,446 citizens with the right to vote are registered in Moldova, according to the data from the State Register of Voters. Thus, several days earlier the CEC announced that 3,112,460 ballots would be published for the elections that are to take place on Sunday. // curentul.md

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) accredited the last observers to monitor the parliamentary elections of 30 November 2014. According to the CEC, the Sunday elections will be monitored by 3,192 persons accredited as national observers from 24 organizations, and 229 of them are national observers from 6 electoral contestants, who will monitor the electoral process at the polling places abroad. Also, the CEC accredited 816 persons as international observers from 57 international organizations. // CEC

During his visit to Moldova, Klaus Iohanis, the newly elected president of Romania, held a press briefing together with Vlad Filat, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, where he urged voters to support the country’s European course on 30 November. “I am here to express my full support for the consolidation of democracy and Moldova’s alignment to European standards. On 30 November, Moldova’s citizens have the chance to choose a European future for their country. A change for better, which will be felt in everyone’s daily life. I hope that those who have the right to vote will choose a pro-European future. I am mainly appealing to those who have Romanian citizenship: Romania had a historic opportunity to become part of the European community. On 30 November, we can give a European chance and a better future to Moldova,” Romanian president said.

Marian Lupu, leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), held a press conference, where he addressed a message to voters in connection with the parliamentary elections of 30 November. “The Sunday voting is very important for the families of Moldova, for Moldova’s future: we have to choose between stability and development on the one hand and chaos and instability on the other hand. And the Democratic Party is now the strongest national force that works for Moldova’s stability and growth,” the democrats’ leader said. Concerning the future government, Marian Lupu said that the PDM strongly supports the creation of a pro-European coalition, which would continue the European course of Moldova.

At a press conference, the Liberal Reformatory Party (PLR) leader Ion Hadarca made an assessment of the electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections and urged citizens to participate in the voting on 30 November. “I, Ion Hadarca, chairman of the Liberal Reformatory Party, am appealing to all citizens of Moldova, people of good faith that see their future in the European family, but also to those who are undecided, disappointed, teachers, doctors, our fellow citizens from expat communities — Come to vote, Vote for the PLR, Vote for the Eagle, Vote for Europe!” the party leader said.

At a press conference, the “My Moldova” public association, together with former minister of security Anatol Plugaru, called citizens to go to the voting on 30 November and to give their votes for the “Patriots of Moldova” Party, which, in their opinion, truly defends people’s interests. Participants in the press conference said that it is unheard of that an electoral contestant be withdrawn from the electoral race shortly before elections, thus violating the rights of the voters that intended to vote for Renato Usatii’s party. “We say we should mobilize ourselves and unite around the ‘Patriots of Moldova’ party. We are asking all those who intended to vote for the ‘Patria’ Party to come and vote for the ‘Patriots of Moldova’,” Anatol Plugaru said. // IPN

Ruslan Popa, chairman of the Reformatory Communist Party (PCR), held a press conference to make a summary of the electoral campaign for the elections of 30 November. The PCR leader underlined that it had been a difficult campaign, because the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) did everything possible to exclude them from this electoral campaign. “Voronin’s communists challenged our party in court for the use of communist symbols. Unfortunately, the PCRM registered this symbol as a trademark, which currently belongs to a single party. In order not to have the same trademark, we used other elements in our party’s symbol: a star, a hammer and an ear of wheat. It is difficult as a communist to find a different symbol, because it must belong to all communists, who identify with it,” Ruslan Popa underlined. At the same time, he said he was sure that 30% of the PCRM electorate will vote for his party. // politik.md

Independent candidate Oleg Cernei called a press conference, where he made an assessment of the electoral campaign and urged voters to participate in the elections of 30 November. In his opinion, this electoral campaign has been an exercise that clearly showed the difference between “European speech and crude reality, where the administrative factor and public money were made use of, and the public opinion was impertinently manipulated.” Speaking about the exclusion of Renato Usatii from the electoral race, Oleg Cernei said that “Usatii’s project was planned for a certain time and a certain goal.”

In the conditions when “voters have been manipulated”, Oleg Cernei urges citizens to vote in these elections for him, promising them to be “the voters’ eyes in the Parliament.” // Infotag

Iurie Rosca, candidate of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PPCD), held a press conference, where he assessed the electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections and urged citizens to participate in the voting on 30 November. “I’m asking all of you to first go to church on Sunday and then together, with a pure heart, to go to ballot boxes. To cast our votes for the PPCD, the only party that promotes Christian values in Moldova. We have a strong team of decided, courageous, professional people, so I’m calling all of you to give our votes for the PPCD — the only realistic option,” Rosca said. // tribuna.md

During the almost two months that passed from the start of the electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections of 30 November, dozens of electoral incidents occurred, which resulted in the initiation of three criminal cases. This announcement has been made today by Marin Maxian, head of the National Patrolling Inspectorate, at the meeting of the Central Electoral Commission. Thus, the following occurrences took place during the electoral campaign: seven incidents between electoral contestants; 267 cases of violation of the electoral legislation, 200 of which related to the placement of electoral posters in prohibited places and 8 cases of theft of electoral boards.

At the same time, there have been three cases of illegal distribution of money and foodstuffs in the regions of Drochia and Ialoveni and in Balti municipality. // realitatea.md