The electoral legislation of Gagauzia should be reviewed and harmonized with the national electoral legislation. A problem is faced now, before the elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia – the Electoral Code of Gagauzia was adopted in 2015, but a series of very important processes took place at the national level meanwhile. Another problem is the fact that the mandate of the Central Election Commission of Comrat expires on December 24, said the executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT Igor Boţan.
In a news conference at IPN, Igor Boţan said that a special law on the election of the People’s Assembly was drafted and adopted and this, in general, reflects the election method in the Republic of Moldova. In 2015, the People’s Assembly adopted the Electoral Code of Gagauzia with the aim of adjusting the local legislation to the national one. “The Electoral Code of Gagauzia generally reflects the processes at the national level. If we read attentively the Election Code of Gagauzia, we reach the conclusion that it is mostly similar to that of the Republic of Moldova. There is now a problem and this problem is that the Electoral Code of Gagauzia was adopted in 2015, but a number of very important processes took place at the national level in the interim,” stated the ADEPT director.
The expert noted the return to the direct election of the President in 2016, when substantial changes were made to the Electoral Code. There were reviewed the notions. In 2017, the proportional representation system for the parliamentary elections was replaced with the mixed one. Other serious amendments were made to the Electoral Code, related to collateral processes that are yet very important for the electoral process. It goes to the adoption of a new Code of Audiovisual Services, a new Administrative Code and many other things that influenced the modification of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova. In 2019, the proportional representation system was restored.
The Electoral Code of Gagauzia remained at the level of 2015 and the election commission of the region drafted a bill to amend the document. But the big problem is whether the People’s Assembly, during the two months or less than remained until the expiry of its mandate, manages or not to amend the electoral legislation so that the changes that occurred in areas related to elections are reflected. “All these things are in suspense. That’s why we decided to speak about them in advance so as to transmit a message to civil society that follows the electoral process. I warn that these problems should be solved,” stated Igor Boţan.
