The Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is campaigning on the referendum on the country’s accession to the EU and is trying, through this exercise, to transfer its image to a presidential candidate, said the mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban, who leads the National Alternative Movement (MAN). According to him, the MAN supports the idea of the referendum, but does not like the way in which the government tries to create political capital on account of this plebiscite, IPN reports.

Yesterday, PAS MPs submitted to the Constitutional Court the proposal to initiate the national referendum on the revision of the Constitution. Thus, the ballot paper will stipulate the question: “Are you in favor of Moldova’s accession to the European Union?”. The mayor of Chisinau considers the question as simplistic and accuses the PAS government of campaigning on account of the autumn referendum.

“The question seems very simplistic to me. I’m afraid that someone is trying to campaign and transfer their image to a single person who will participate in this process. There is also the issue of using public money for promotion before these processes are voted on by Parliament. We have all seen placards, newspapers, vests put on by the whole PAS party, and this campaign is conducted on behalf of all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova. I suppose it is financed with public money, but if it is not, we must clarify this aspect and see if it is within the limits of the law,” Ion Ceban state in the talk show “Rezume” on RliveTV.

The mayor noted that the central electoral authority previously punished him for launching an information campaign on the work of the mayor's office, and now the PAS uses the campaign to promote the referendum in favor of itself, without the state institutions taking action.

“The Chisinau City Hall was penalized quite harshly and I, personally, was accused of using administrative resources, but my face didn’t appear anywhere. There was nothing referring to me. Here we have an abundance of associations and a tendency to capitalize on assistance or particular implemented projects. Questions appear here. As a concept, we support the referendum because the MAN has in its political program written in black and white that the European integration must become a national idea,” said Ion Ceban said.

According to a draft decision on the holding of the national constitutional referendum, the plebiscite will take place on October 20, 2024.