“Moldova has registered essential progress in conducting local elections since the first observation mission of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE) monitoring campaign” said Susan Bolam, Chair of the CLRAE delegation, which is visiting Chisinau for an observation mission to the June 3 local elections. “The Council of Europe wants to contribute to developing democracy development in Moldova and to support you in the most practical way on this path” said the European official at a meeting with Moldovan Speaker Marian Lupu, according to a Parliament’s press release. The members of the European delegation have also pleaded for the equality of chances for candidates in mass-media and for transparency in implementing the electoral legislation. The officials also referred to aspects of regional development and consolidation of local public autonomy in Moldova. In this context, Marian Lupu informed the European delegation that till the end of this session the Parliament will examine a new draft law on local public finances, which will complete the legislative package concerning the strengthening of local autonomy adopted by the Parliament in December 2006. Lupu pointed out that the Parliament will pay particular attention to the suggestions produced the monitoring reports, and if need be, will amend the electoral legislation. At a press conference held on Thursday Susan Bolam said that the Congress had observation missions to all the recent elections in Moldova and it has made recommendations to suggest how the electoral conducts can be improved, those have not always being actioned upon.