The people in Gagauzia, in the morning of February 2, started to vote in two local referendums held there. The Moldovan authorities consider the two plebiscites illegal. The chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Gagauzia Valentina Lisnic has told IPN that no incidents were witnessed during the first hours of voting. The voter turnout at 9am was 3.8%, IPN reports.

The electoral rolls of Gagauzia contain 90,924 people. Under the new rules adopted by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia two weeks ago, the voter turnout required for validating the referendums is 33%, down from 50% + 1 vote.

The plebiscites are supervised by 275 observers, who are mainly representatives of political parties and public organizations. There are no international observers in the polling stations. According to unofficial reports, Gagauzia’s CEC registered a group of observers of the Russian nongovernmental organization CIS-EMO for monitoring the referendums. But on January 30, the minibus with representatives of the NGO was stopped at the Palanca customs post and the observers were banned entry into Moldova.

Before the voting, the press service of the region’s Governor broadcast a note informing that the Russian State Duma deputy Roman Hudeakov is ready to take part in the plebiscite as observer. However, there was no information about the arrival of the Russian official in Gagauzia.

Today, February 2, the people in Gagauzia are expected to take part in two referendums – a consultative one, on the external development course of Moldova and a legislative one, on the Gagauz people’s right to self-determination if Moldova loses its sovereignty. The Comrat Court ruled that both of the plebiscites are illegal. The senior state officials also declared the actions of the referendum organizers illegal. For its part, the administration of Gagauzia has insisted on the legality of its actions, saying the Comrat Court didn’t pass a definitive decision on the two referendums.