alegeri.md

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) registered the last 13 electoral competitors for the parliamentary elections of November 28, 2010, all of whom are independent candidates:

28. Romeo Cereteu
29. Afanasie Birladeanu
30. Leonid Volneanschi
31. Oleg Bolotnicov
32. Oleg Cazac
33. Vitalie Taulean
34. Elena Leonte-Burghila
35. Valentina Cusnir
36. Alexandru Demian
37. Sergiu Iachim
38. Natalia Axenova
39. Vasile Lupascu
40. Sergiu Banari

CEC did not reject any application for registration and thus the number of candidates for early parliamentary elections reached 40, and the length of the ballot could be about one meter. This can lead to rapid filling of ballot boxes, in case of massive turnout of Moldovan citizens and authorities need to take care of providing the necessary number of ballot boxes.

Moldovan Orthodox Church Synod (Synod) issued a Statement which says that introduction of the school-subject “Orthodox Basics” in the school triggered a wave of discussions with a broad resonance in society, the church becoming the subject of many comments and accusations of interference in political controversy. The Synod states it is surprised that in the middle of promoting and supporting the “Orthodox Basics” by the Initiative Group, during the organization of collecting the signatures for a possible referendum, it was declared that Valeriu Pasat takes over the chairmanship in the Humanist Party, and since then the Metropolitan leadership started to witness waves of accusations. At that time, the Synod has convened a meeting following which a statement was made, claiming that the Church reserves the right to get involved or not in society’s life, in order to preserve and promote Christian principles, but no concrete step was made towards joining any political party. In this way, an incorrectly interpretation was given to the campaign to promote Christian values in society, and the widespread advertising information to this end gained an electoral nature, a phenomenon that we never agreed with and that, obviously, we do not tolerate. Church as a divine-human institution does not engage in political struggle, the bishops and clergy participation in the activity of political organizations in electoral campaign is prohibited, as well as the public support to political candidates and parties. The statement is signed by the Metropolitan of Chisinau and all Moldova, by bishops of Tiraspol and Dubasari, of Comrat and Cahul, of Balti and Falesti, as well as by the Bishop of Hîncu, Vicar of the Metropolitan Church of Chisinau and all Moldova. (source: www.mitropolia.md)

The Resource Centre for Human Rights (CREDO) and the Institute of Human Rights (IDOM) consider that during the PCRM meeting with voters in Ungheni the right to free speech of the citizen Anton Cotici was violated, his freedom of safety being restricted. The finding was stated after the investigation made on this incident by representatives of these two NGOs, who discussed with Anton Cotici and several witnesses. The fact that two bodyguards of the former President Vladimir Voronin have immobilized Anton Cotici, twisting his hand and foot, because he insisted on getting an answer to a question ignored by the communist leader, is an abuse to be investigated and sanctioned. Representatives of the State Protection and Guard Service stated that this institution will submit the final conclusion on the case by November 21, and until then those two officers remain in office duties.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has made public, within the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, the results of the second stage of monitoring how the electoral campaign for early parliamentary elections is reflected by major media outlets in Moldova. According to the Report, those 10 radio and TV monitored stations have broadcasted a large number of materials with direct or indirect electoral impact. In case of public stations the ruling parties are slightly favoured, since they are frequently used as sources. The private national-wide station Prime TV favours to a certain extent the particular competitor — PDM. The private national-wide station NIT continues to make an open political partisanship in favour of PCRM. The ruling Alliance and its component parties have been criticized and disadvantaged in the vast majority of cases, and extra-parliamentary parties and independent competitors had limited access to this TV station. The private national-wide station 2 Plus had a quite passive behaviour. N4 station (regional coverage) was more active in covering such topics in the newscast. N4 has provided a relative pluralism of opinion, but most often, however, the station provided the access to LDPM and PCRM representatives. Publika TV and Jurnal TV news stations have actively covered the electoral events. The electoral competitors were presented mainly in a neutral way, but also in a positive and negative one, depending on the covered issues. In case of Jurnal TV, one may notice that it slightly favours LDPM and LP and disadvantages the PCRM. In case of Publika TV, there is no apparent trend towards favouring certain competitors. Print media, including web portals and news agencies have actively covered the electoral campaign for early parliamentary elections of November 28, 2010, the number of articles about the electoral process and electoral education of citizens has increased, but their number is still insufficient. The volume of political and electoral advertising, published in this period, has increased four times comparative to the first monitoring period.

The Central Electoral Commission recalls that the procedure of prior registration of Moldovan citizens living abroad in the electoral lists continues. To register, the voters living abroad have to access the web page www.voteaza.md and complete the online form. The prior registration is not mandatory, and voters who, for various reasons, have not followed this procedure, will be able to exercise their right to vote on election day by showing up at the appropriate polling station. In order to get more information about the early parliamentary elections of November 28, 2010, anyone may dial for free the telephone no. 0 8000 8888 from any city of the Republic of Moldova or +(373 22) 540–488 (ordinary rate) for citizens living abroad.