Dec 01, 2003

Gagauzia: Elections in Moldova's Gagauz Region Meet International Standards but with Deficiencies, S


The overall impression of the OSCE Mission to Moldova is that the second round of elections to the People's Assembly held yesterday in the autonomous Gagauz region was conducted according to the provisions of the regional Election Law and in line wit
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The overall impression of the OSCE Mission to Moldova is that the second round of elections to the People's Assembly held yesterday in the autonomous Gagauz region was conducted according to the provisions of the regional Election Law and in line with international standards for transparency and accountability of the election process. However, the Mission expressed concern about deficiencies in protecting the secrecy of the vote, divergences in the implementation of the election law with regard to the use of mobile boxes and the presence of police within polling stations.

Following an invitation from the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Moldova and the People's Assembly of the Gagauzian Autonomous Territorial Unit, the OSCE Mission to Moldova carried out a political assessment of the elections to the Gagauz People's Assembly.

The Mission followed the election campaign and regularly met election administration officials as well as candidates. The Mission assessed the conduct of the elections in 51 out of 64 polling stations during the first round and in all 46 polling stations on November 30. Mission members were also present during the count of 15 per cent of the votes cast during the second round.

Campaigning between the first and second round of the elections was calm and the voter turnout on election day was again low.

Although the administration of the elections in general went smoothly, the OSCE Mission to Moldova reiterated that there is room for improvement, especially with regard to the training of election officials and the registration process. The parallel application of the regional election law and the Moldovan Election Code also need to be addressed.

According to the Mission's assessment, the creation of a database, including the names of all voters, is highly advisable.

Sixteen out of thirty three candidates elected on 16 and 30 November were independent candidates, indicating that the election system applied in Gagauzia, as well as the de facto prohibition of regional parties by the Moldovan Law on Political Parties do not contribute to the development of a stable party system.

The Mission will prepare recommendations for procedural and technical improvements and for improvements of the legal framework, which will follow after the announcement of final election results. The recommendations will be shared with the Gagauz Election Commission, to which the Mission expressed its gratitude for its co-operation.

 

Source: OSCE