The appointment by Parliament of the new composition of the Central Election Commission is on the last 100 meters. The Parliament’s legal commission for appointment and immunities selected a number of CVs and the chosen applications for the post of CEC member were submitted to the Security and Intelligence Service, the National Integrity Authority and the National Anticorruption Center so as to obtain appraisals for accepting the candidates. The commission’s head Olesea Stamate assured the new CEC members proposed by the parliamentary group of the Party of Action and Solidarity are upright professionals, IPN reports.

Olesea Stamate said the new composition of the Central Election Commission will be approved in the next sittings of Parliament. Of the nine CEC members, five will be fielded by the PAS parliamentary group.

“We collected a number of CVs. These are persons from different fields who worked or continue working for the Central Election Commission, representatives of civil society, experts in the electoral field. Of all the applicants, we chose candidates who will be examined within the PAS group. We are waiting for the appraisals of the responsible institutions, such as SIS, NAC and NIA. After the appraisals are provided, the commission will pronounce and will present the candidates to Parliament for confirmation,” Olesea Stamate stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.  

She noted that the electoral institution cannot be politicized even if the members delegated by PAS hold a majority in the commission. The experience of the former CEC, which was led by a preventative of PAS, shows that the party does north exert pressure on persons appointed to particular posts.

“Take the previous appointments at CEC. The persons proposed by PAS took actions that even went against the law, not to mention their obedience to the party. As long as we have legal guarantees of the independence of these members, they should not fell loyal or be obedient to the party that delegated them. When you see the members delegated by PAS, there will be no objections as to the professionalism or impartiality of the CEC members,” started Olesea Stamate.

In accordance with the law, the CEC members are named by Parliament by a majority of votes. Of the nine CEC members, one is proposed by the President, while eight by the legislative body, depending on the number of seats held by each parliamentary group. Currently, five members will be suggested by PAS, while three by the parliamentary opposition. The mandate of the current composition of the Central Election Commission expired in June.