The law should not be individual in character. It should have general effects, said the ex-president of the Constitutional Court Alexandru Tănase. According to him, the hasty amendment of the Election Code should be placed in the context of the government’s struggle against the representatives of the former Shor Party. IPRE expert Mihai Mogîldea criticized the way in which the PAS adopts amendments to the Election Code, saying that the parliamentary procedure hadn’t been respected. For their part, representatives of the government said that by imposing the ban on running in elections on some of the representatives of the outlawed Shor Party, the government ensures free and fair elections for the citizens, IPN reports.
On October 4, Parliament adopted amendments to the Election Code by which persons who are suspected, were charged or found guilty of offences, were earlier excluded from the electoral race following the violation of the principle of transparency or are on international sanctions lists are banned from standing as a candidate at elections.
“By the amendments we made to the Election Code we trenchantly undertook to prevent voter corruption and illegal funding attempts, especially when we speak about threats to national security. The criminal grouping Shor is an organized criminal group and we will not allow these elections to be rigged. Organizing free and fair elections according to the EU standards is a commitment undertaken by the government. We speak about persons who officially are on international sanctions lists. We only supplemented the Election Code so as to comply with the Constitutional Court’s decision. The SIS, the NAC, the Prosecutor’s Office, after the bill is given a second reading, can already fulfill the task of compiling the list,” PAS MP Doina German stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
Expert of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) Mihai Mogîldea said the recent Constitutional Court’s decision by which representatives of a party that was declared unconstitutional are allowed to run in elections is judicious. He criticized the way in which the Election Code was amended again.
“Clear delimitation should exist between the leaders of this party and the other members. We should not treat all of them in the same way. In localities, there are persons who are voted for the image they have, not for the party they represent. The vote in local elections is different from the vote in parliamentary and presidential elections. In the local elections, they vote the person rather than the party. No public consultations were staged for the adopted bill. The opinion of the Venice Commission wasn’t taken into account. Everything happened in a hurry. We must have an ordered process and take into account particular rigors, the recommendations of the Venice Commission which says that the election legislation cannot be amended within a year before the elections. If the right to stand for election is restricted, long-term consequences appear,” stated Mihai Mogîldea.
Ex-president of the Constitutional Court Alexandru Tănase said the government acts in electoral interests and adopts dedicated laws, but this thing should be avoided.
“The fact that the ruling party struggles against a particular political party and there is a two-year rivalry between them is a particular case. Parliament should not adopt dedicated or individual laws. The law should have general effects. The argument that these amendments were made to execute the Constitutional Court’s decision is false. In the Court’s decision to declare the Shor Party unconstitutional, nothing is said about the necessity of making legislative changes. These changes should be placed in an electoral context and in the political competition staged by the government. I know that public consultations should exist and a number of institutions should give their assessments when a bill is to be adopted. A break should be taken between the first reading and the second reading for the MPs to propose amendment,” stated Alexandru Tănase.
Under the given bill, the General Police Inspectorate, the National Anticorruption Center, the Security and Intelligence Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office will provide the Central Election Commission with information about persons who were classed as suspects or were accused or found guilty of committing offenses, who were excluded from the electoral race earlier or are on international sanctions lists and the Commission will compile the relevant lists.
