The institutors that show a particular level of independence during election campaigns, especially the current composition of the Central Election Commission, should react to the messages transmitted by the political players the past few weeks. The Electoral Code should be adjusted to these realities in the Republic of Moldova and particular clauses on the monitoring of the messages transmitted by election contenders and provisions on the punishment of election competitors should be introduced, Mihai Mogîldea, team leader at the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE Moldova), stated in IPN’s public debate “Debunking of false electoral messages and counteracting of speech inciting division”.

According to Mihai Mogîldea, the CEC is the player that should initiate debates on the supplementing of the Electoral Code with punishment for hate speech. “Owing to such messages, the electoral process and the image of the institutions responsible for the organization of elections are affected. The CEC should come up with proposals for amending the Electoral Code that, after the stage of public debates, should be submitted to the future Parliament,” said the IPRE Moldova expert.

He also said that the political forces have particular strategies for the current election campaign by which they aim to achieve a particular goal. The politicians apply all the available means so as to achieve their goals. “It is evident that they try to develop particular debates between political opponents. If the political opponents from one extreme launch an idea based on hate speech, it will be applied if other contenders react to this provocation. The provocation is launched for the political opponent to come with a response message of attack. It is important that society understand the stake of the political parties that promote hate speech,” said Mihai Mogîldea.

The IPRE expert encourages the political parties in the election campaign to offer solutions to real problems faces in Moldova and to renounce hate speech that divides society. “If we want to have a political class that would represent people’s interests and would contribute to the development of the Republic of Moldova, we should take a step forward, in the right direction,” concluded Mihai Mogîldea.

The public debate “Debunking of false electoral messages and counteracting of speech inciting division” is the 186th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.