“In a democratic state, all the electoral players should enjoy equal conditions and should use the resources within the legal limits and any deviation from this principle should be penalized by the state institutions in an exemplary way,” the Party of Action and Solidarity said, referring to the Bălți Appeals Court’s decision to exclude the Shor Party’s candidate Marina Tauber from the Bălți mayoral runoff that was to be held on December 5, IPN reports.
In a post on Facebook, PAS says it took note of the court’s decision to annul the registration of a candidate who is accused of violating again the electoral legislation, as a result of which the mayoral elections in the municipality of Bălți were suspended.
Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco also reacted to Marina Tauber’s exclusion from the runoff vote. “No matter how much money some have, the state institutions should riposte if these ignore the law and common sense, especially if the money is stolen from these distressed people. The interest or oligarchic groups cannot be stronger than the State. What we saw in Bălți shows that we have yet a lot to do to protect the State. This is our key task during the four years of government – to build institutions, to strengthen the State and to destroy the criminal groups that undermine its authority, Sergiu Litvinenco posted on his Facebook page.
As to Marina Tauber’s statement that the Appeals Court’s decision to exclude her from the Bălți mayoral runoff is like the end of the world, Sergiu Litvinenco said it is “the end of the world” for those who think that everything can be bought in this country, including justice, and for those who on large sums can hire impertinent lawyers who dare to teach morality and justice lessons.
The Central Electoral Commission suspended the second round of the snap mayoral election in Bălți after the local appellate court upheld the decision to remove Shor Party’s Marina Tauber from the race. “In the absence of two candidates, the Commission members decided in an extraordinary meeting to suspend the second round until the rulings issued by the district and appellate courts remain irreversible”, the CEC said in a press release. The electoral legislation says the runoff involves two candidates.
The representative of the Shor Party to the Central Election Commission Vadim Banaru filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice against the decision to exclude the party’s candidate for the mayoralty of Bălți municipality Marina Tuber. He said that if the Supreme Court’s does not rule in favor of Marina Tauber, the party will go to the European Court of Human Rights. The decision to suspend the snap mayoral runoff that were to take place in Bălți on December 5 is abusive, illegal and violates the right to free elections, the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections.