Electoral corruption is a factor that can affect the integrity of the election process. When someone comes with the sack of money and shares out this money, we cannot speak about fair elections, the head of Promo-LEX’s observation mission for the November 5, 2023 general local elections Nicolae Panfil stated in a public debate hosted by IPN.

Nicolae Panfil noted that the legislation imposes particular restrictions for the election period or campaign. For example, it is not permitted to use the administrative resource, to present previous managerial accomplishments but such violations are yet committed. Increased effort should be made in this regard to make the election contenders more responsible, including by organizing more electoral debates before voters at the local level. The voters should have access to information about election processes and be vigilant in the election campaign, should know what cases can be classed as acts of corruption when it comes to electoral promises.

“The problem has a number of facets. Indeed, some make promises and come up with miraculous solutions that can solve the problems overnight. However, it is not clear with what funds and with what duties this can be done. It is not clear with what team they come to do this. There are also persons who did something while holding different posts or in different situations as they were in the public administration or weren’t, but have particular accomplishment or teams behind them. The promises made by these are of a different level,” stated Nicolae Panfil.

Asked how the cases of electoral corruption affect the image of the country abroad, before the foreign partners, Nicolae Panfil said that when acts of corruption are committed and these affect the election process, the perception abroad will evidently be that equal conditions weren’t ensured for everyone and the integrity of elections was affected as a result. When someone comes with a sack of money and distributes this to everyone, equal conditions for everyone surely cannot be ensured. If a person comes with a sack of money, but is not caught distributing money illegally or is caught and is not arrested because there is no evidence as the institutions do not do their job or for other reasons, or the legislation is not appropriate, the impact on the election process is evidently serious.

Nicolae Panfil called on the voters and election runners to be active and to report cases of corruption in any form. He reminded that the corruption of voters with food products, for example, has been discussed a lot, but no one was held to accountable and the trials haven’t been brought to an end. He noted that the citizens and the authorities should become involved throughout the four-year electoral cycle, not only during the election campaign or on election day.

The public debate entitled “Corruption technology: how and why does it work (or doesn’t) in the Republic of Moldova” was staged by IPN news Agency in the framework of the project “Stimulation of discussion in the mass media about traditional particularities of local elections and the need for Europeanization” which is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova.