As many as 124 candidates were registered in the 35 constituencies established for the ordinary elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. Two of these withdrew. This is the lowest number of candidates registered after the first elections to the People’s Assembly held in 1995. Twenty-four of the current deputies from Comrat, which is about two thirds, applied to run in the upcoming elections, shows an analytical note on the profile of the candidates competing in the September 19 elections produced by the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, IPN reports.
The date of the elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia of the seventh legislature was set and changed for two times. Therefore, the elections are held with a delay of at least six months.
In the elections to the People’s Assembly, the number of independent candidates is usually similar to that of candidates representing parties. In the upcoming elections, over 4/5 of the candidates preferred to compete as independents and this reveals the ATU residents’ distrust in political parties. Moreover, the citizens from this region didn’t allow to be lured by the amendments to the law on political parties, which substantially reduced the requirements for the registration of parties, allowing actually registering regional parties.
Only two political entities have candidates in these elections. The Electoral Bloc of the Communists and the Socialists has candidates in 21 electoral constituencies of the 35. The Party “Building Europe at Home” registered candidates in only two electoral constituencies. The parties showed the greatest interest in the elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia in 2008, when ten parties had candidates in these.
The number of female candidates decreased considerably compared with the previous elections. This tendency goes against the law on the ensuring of equality of chances between women and men. The law provides that the political parties are obliged to contribute to ensuring equal rights and chances between its female and male members, respecting a minimum representation quota of 40% for both of the sexes on the lists of candidates.
The quota of 40% of female candidates can be now achieved only in the case of the application of the proportional representation system, when the electoral bodies register parties’ lists of candidates. In the upcoming elections, 15% of the candidates are women. Among the independent candidates, only 14% are women, while among the BECS candidates – about one fourth.
The demographic crisis in the Republic of Moldova led to an increase in the average age of candidates. In the last three electoral cycles, the number of candidates older than 50 rose from 31% to 47%, while of candidates younger than 35 and, respectively, younger than 50 declined considerably.
According to ADEPT, the campaign preceding the elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia are much more anemic than those preceding the election of the governor of Gagauzia. It is a clear indicator that the Bashkan and the executive committee have a greater say in the administration of Gagauzia. Electoral statistics show that the post of deputy of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia has never served as a launching pad for acceding to the post of governor. Of all the governors of Gagauzia, only Gheorghii Tabunshchik after the expiry of his tenure ran once for deputy, but wasn’t elected.
