An Election Observation Mission (EOM) was deployed by the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) to monitor the Presidential Elections of 30 October 2016 in Moldova. ENEMO is an international network of 23 leading non-profit, non-partisan and non-governmental organizations from 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including three European Union countries.

In a news conference at IPN, Deputy Head of Mission Dritan Taulla said ENEMO has a long standing experience in observing elections in countries with democracies in transition in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Mission to Moldova is the 23rd election observation mission organized so far.

ENEMO seeks to promote civil society organizations’ involvement in societies with democracies in transition and other non-democratic forms of governing, towards improvement of electoral processes, greater transparency of the governments and their accountability to the citizens, and respect of basic human rights and freedoms.

Head of Mission Peter Novotny said the EOM will assess the election process in light of compliance with international standards for democratic elections, national legislative framework, and OSCE commitments. It will observe the conduct of election administration bodies, legal framework, with emphasis on gender equity and respect for the rights of people living with disabilities, handling of complaints and appeals by both election administration bodies and courts as well as the overall political environment in which elections will take place.

Besides direct observation and analysis of the legal framework, the observers will meet with relevant stakeholders, including election administration officials, civil society representatives, presidential candidates, political parties, officials of relevant state institutions that play a role in the electoral process, and media representatives, to receive a more comprehensive picture about the electoral process.

The Election Observation Mission for the Presidential Elections of 30 October 2016 to Moldova is to end at the beginning of this December.