34% of the voters visited polls in Gagauzia till 13.00

Elections for the office of the region’s governor take place in the Territorial Administrative Unit Gagauz-Yeri on Sunday, December 3, 2006. The data attests that 29,339 persons of those 83 551 included in voting lists visited polls till at 12.45, a number representing 33.9% of the voters. The head of the Gagauzia central Electoral Commission, Victor Calosin, told Info-Prim Neo that since morning till now, elections in Gagauzia have been held in “a calm way, without incidents”. Solicited about the way in which the elections in Gagauzia are taking place, the deputy chairman of the Central Electoral Commitee, Renata Lapti, who visited the Committee in Gagauzia, told Info-Prim Neo that she came to Comrat “to pay a friendly visit in order to offer methodological help, in case it is needed”. Legal provisions in force only stipulate the obligation of the Central Electoral Commission to register and accredit foreign observers at the elections in Gagauzia, mentioned Lapti. Four candidates run for this office – the present bashkan Gheorghi Tabunscic, the deputy general prosecutor, Aleksandr Stoianoglo, the mayor of Comrat town Nicolae Dudoglo and the mayor of Ciadar-Lunga town Mihai Formuzal. The embassies of the EU member-countries, the representations of the European Commission, Council of Europe and OSCE Mission tp Moldova called on the authorities of Moldova to carry out free and fair elections in the region. A report drawn by a group of independent observers, representatives of several NGOs shows that since the beginning of the electoral campaign the press from Gagauzia mostly favoured the present bashkan Gheorgi Tabunscic, avoiding however to defame the rest of the candidates. Tabunscic, who is supported by the Communist Party, named the European integration as a strategic priority for Moldova, although the voters from Gagauzia are traditionally directed towards Russia. His main competitor is considered to be the mayor of Ceadar-Lunga, Mihail Formuzal, who is supported by the pro-Russian bloc “Ravnopravie – Patria-Rodina”, which placed first in Gagauzia in the parliamentary elections in 2005. The pro-Russian parties “Patria-Rodina” and “Ravnopravie” obtained together in 2005 half of the votes in Gagauzia. The elections in Gagauzia are be observed by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which will draft a report on the election process.