2008 report: Electoral climate in the Republic of Moldova
By Liliana Viţu*, Statement at the European Parliament's hearing on Moldova (August 25, 2008; Brussels)
General parliamentary elections are expected to be called in mid March 2009. The next parliament will elect a new President as the second and last tenure of President Vladimir Voronin comes to an end.
A number of amendments to the Electoral Code were passed recently by the ruling Communists' Party (CPRM) and Christian-Democrat Peoples' Party (CDPP): the threshold was increased from 4% to 6%, pre-electoral blocks were prohibited and restrictions to persons holding dual citizenship were introduced. These amendments were criticized by national and international organizations. In particular, the Venice Commission recommended 5% as an optimal electoral threshold for Moldova. European officials also expressed concerns over the worsening democratic environment as regards a free and conscientious choice by citizens .
Following the adoption of a new Law on Political Parties in December 2007, all parties have to run national conferences and congresses in order to adjust the statutes and other related documents to the new legal requirements. Besides driving parties away from their work with voters and election preparations, this raises concerns as to the approval process of all new documents by the Ministry of Justice. Opposition parties fear not to be able to run for parliament in case of allegedly delays by authorities. Also, the new law sets a minimum of 4000 members for a party to be (re)registered – still considered a high number for a small country of 3.4 million people (including up to 1 million who lives abroad) and a provision that runs against the democratic right to association.
Under the same law, parliamentary political parties will start receiving state funding as of 1st July 2009 proportional to the number of seats acquired. After 2011 local elections, parties with more than 50 councillor seats at regional (rayon) level will also benefit from state funding. Opposition accused the CPRM and CDPP of disfavouring other parties, claiming that financing should have started at the beginning of 2008 so that the parties could have strengthened prior to the campaign. Given the poor state of political party system development in Moldova, the above-mentioned changes will negatively impact the capacities of opposition parties to run and accede to the parliament.
Primary opposition party leaders, Dorin Chirtoacă, Mihai Ghimpu (Liberal Party), Serafim Urechean ("Our Moldova Alliance" Party), Vlad Filat (Liberal-Democratic Party), Nicolae Andronic (Republican Peoples' Party) accused repeatedly CPRM and its ally CDPP of harassment and pressures via "fabricated" criminal cases by law enforcement institutions and manipulation through loyal media outlets.
The June 2007 local elections led to a major defeat by CPRM in more than a half of regions where opposition coalitions were created. In particular, the victory of young Liberal Party vice-president, Dorin Chirtoacă, in Chisinau capital city against the CPRM candidate caused harsh attacks from the President Vladimir Voronin's side. He warned the opposition-led regions of cuts in central budget allocations for infrastructure development purposes, discriminatorily and unevenly distributing central budgets to the Communist-led regions and villages, thus punishing citizens for their vote. The usage of administrative resources in the pre-electoral period continues to raise concerns among independent observers and, if not reduced and/or removed, will certainly be listed as a negative feature in international election monitoring reports.
Furthermore, a number of opposition-led coalitions at regional level collapsed during this year due to internal fights and pressure from CPRM councillors. In Chisinau Municipal Council, CPRM and CDPP managed to disjoint the opposition led coalition under dubious legal circumstances and to secure a new coalition with the help of Social-Democratic councillors. The policy pursuit by the ruling party was one of disputes and undermining power of local authorities rather than based on cooperation and decentralisation of local governance. The same principles and tactics are applied in relations between the central government and the Territorial Administrative Unit Gagauzia, led by Mihail Formuzal, one of the leaders of opposition Republican Peoples' Party.
Voters abroad were constantly ignored since late 1990s. According to expert data, between 700.000 and 950.000 Moldovan citizens are living and working abroad. Voting is allowed only at Moldovan diplomatic missions abroad; electronic, post and absentee vote is not yet allowed under the current Electoral Code. High transportation costs, illegal status, lack of interest in political life/elections and concerns regarding the secrecy of vote are the main impediments to participation in voting outside Moldova.
Recommendations to the Government of the Republic of Moldova:
• To review the legal electoral framework by taking into consideration the recommendations of the Venice Commission, specifically as regards the threshold – to be reduced from 6% to 5% - and the pre-electoral alliances, which parties should be allowed to form.
• To ensure a favourable environment for a conscious vote to be casted and for politicians/parties to be freely elected by withholding from intimidations of and pressure on certain opposition leaders.
• To address concerns raised by international and national independent observers in previous monitoring reports on 2005 parliamentary and 2007 local elections, in particular as regards the use of administrative resources and poorly updates of the electoral lists.
Recommendations to the European Union:
• EU institutions should consider bringing conditionality in its dialogue regarding reforms in Moldova especially that the country highly benefits from ENP funding. EU statements are welcomed but not as efficient as putting on hold financial assistance against lack of political will in promoting crucial democratic reforms.
• EU should engage into a more active public diplomacy, firstly through the Member States' Embassies and the European Commission Delegation accredited to Moldova. Applying EU various leverage tools will accelerate reforms in Moldova.
*Liliana Viţu, independent expert in democracy and media development for the Independent Journalism Centre, co-author of Nations in Transit Report (Moldova chapter), Freedom House Europe, 2008; former BBC Correspondent in Moldova
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