The Central Election Commission’s decision to establish 150 polling stations outside the country split the jurists into camps. Some of the electrical experts consider the CEC’s decision is evidently political in character and was taken in favor of an election contender. Other jurists think the international law in general does not oblige the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to establish polling stations outside the country, IPN reports.

Electoral expert Igor Boțan said the CEC’s decision was predictable as this institution in the recent past has been subject to visible pressure on the part of political factors.

“This is done on purpose so that we do not have the elections to which we got used in our electoral democracy. Political pressure is exerted on the CEC. I’m convinced that the CEC members are very competent persons who know the electoral process and I’m therefore surprised that the CC didn’t meet the expectations of society,” Igor Boțan stated in the program “Natalia Morari’s Politics” on TV8 channel.

At the same time, jurist Stanislav Pavlovschi, ex-ECHR judge, said the state is not obliged to ensure the setting up of polling stations abroad. However, if they aim to ensure the right to vote outside the country, this should be done equitably for all the Moldovans who settled abroad.

“The right to free elections is a right guaranteed by the European Convention, but the state is responsible only for the situation inside the country. In theory, they could have established no polling stations abroad. If you saw, other countries do not have many polling stations on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The Convention does not guarantee the vote abroad, also due to the incapacity to guarantee the legality of elections in another state. We, on our path of elective democracy, went further than many advanced states,” noted Stanislav Pavlovschi.

The CEC’s decision to open 150 polling stations for the diaspora was taken after the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the Chisinau City Appeals Court’s judgment by which the CEC’s decision to establish 146 polling stations abroad was annulled.  The Supreme Court of Justice obliged the CEC to establish at least 190 polling stations outside the country.