The President of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, Valentin Gaidarji, contests the rejection of his registration as an independent candidate for the elections on November 15. He claims that the Public Services Agency has not updated the data regarding his withdrawal from the PACE party. Contacted by IPN, the head of the Communication, Public Relations and Media Department at the CEC, Rodica Sîrbu, argues that the claims should be directed towards the party, and the legality of the decision can be determined by the court.

Valentin Gaidarji stated, in a video address, that the subscription lists and the application were submitted on September 30. He claims that his registration as an independent candidate in constituency no. 23, from the village of Carbalia, was rejected by the Vulcanesti Constituency Electoral Council no. 3. The reason, he claims, was that in an excerpt from October 2, he was still a member of the National Political Council of the PACE party, even though he claims to have left the party on September 4. He says that the party notified the Public Services Agency and the CEC on the same day, and on September 9, he repeatedly sent the notification, with a qualified electronic signature.

The CEC mentions that Article 7 of the Law on Political Parties establishes the method of confirming the quality of membership and its termination.

“In this situation, it seems that this procedure was not respected by either the designated candidate or the party,” said Rodica Sirbu, who added that the electoral bodies make decisions based on legal provisions and available official information, and the complainant has every right to contest the decision.

Gaidarji announced that he contested the rejection of registration at the Central Electoral Council of Gagauzia and requested his registration as an independent candidate. If the complaint is rejected, he says he will go to court.

Valentin Gaidarji decided to run independently for the November 15 election, after PACE was not included in the list of formations admitted to the elections in Gagauzia.