Imposing legal restrictions to prevent certain people from participating in elections may work in the short term, but in the long run, this can lead to dangerous precedents, stated Mihaela Duca-Anghelici, legal analyst with Promo-Lex, during an IPN debate on Monday.

Being a member of the Promo Lex Election Observation Mission, Mihaela Duca-Anghelici was able to see the list of people banned from the upcoming elections. The list was drawn up in the morning of October 4 and contains 101 names. It was compiled by the CEC with the support of the law enforcement agencies and sent out to the local electoral councils for checks at the candidate registration stage. Where candidates from the list had already been registered, and several such cases did happen, their registration was canceled.

According to the legal analyst, “considering that the government has candidates in these elections, the voter might think that the way some laws are adopted, on the same day in two readings for example, ignores the voter’s best interest”. Mihaela Duca-Anghelici recalled the Venice Commission note that had been requested for the first draft law to amend the Electoral Code, which was adopted without considering the opinion.

However, she says, it is important to note that in the conclusions of the Venice Commission from October 6-7, it is mentioned that the stability of the electoral legislation must be ensured. This means that the electoral legislation must not be amended with regard to the essential elements one year before the elections, but also with regard to other elements of the Electoral Code that concern the right to be elected. Nevertheless, elements concerning to the right to be elected were changed right during the electoral period.

“Similarly, the Commission noted that we cannot adhere to the principle of electoral stability when it is necessary to implement a decision of the Constitutional Court. However, the Venice Commission drew attention to the fact that there is no mention of the CC decision that any change was required. In this sense, the criticism of the Venice Commission could also be applied to the law approved on October 4, which aimed to implement the decision of the CC and which, in fact, did not require this”, said the Promo-Lex representative.

She also says that, before the changes to the Electoral Code, certain impediments were created for some people to not be involved in the electoral process. However, these people can get involved by supporting other candidates, which is happening now. “Now all hope rests with the CEC, which has been empowered with tools to verify electoral financing and intervene. If violations are identified that lead to the influence of the voter’s vote, these instruments must be sufficient to intervene including by canceling the registration of electoral competitors who will violate the provisions regarding the financing of political parties”, says Mihaela Duca-Anghelici.

The debate was the second installment of a series dedicated to the upcoming elections, run by IPN with the support of the Soros Moldova Foundation.