Oleg Bînzar, independent candidate for MP in single-member constituency No. 51 the U.S. and Canada, said the 15 polling places that are to be established in the United States and Canada for the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019 are insufficient for an area that is about 600 times larger than Moldova’s territory.
In a news conference at IPN, Oleg Bînzar said the authorities didn’t take into account the figures of voters who registered beforehand to take part in elections when they decided the localities where polling places will be established. Many of these will be set up in localities were there are not many Moldovans. Postal voting that is allowed in some of the states would be a solution.
The candidate believes the restriction to vote with the expired identity card or passport at polling places abroad is unjustified and this discourages voting among the diaspora. Some of the provisions of the Election Code run counter to each other as those from the diaspora, on the one hand, are banned from voting with the identity card, but, on the other hand, when someone from the diaspora wants to run, they must present the identity card for being issued with the integrity certificate. For the people who settled abroad on a permanent basis, this is a problem as they were obliged to return the identity card to the Moldovan authorities when they left the country.
Oleg Bînzar also said the candidates from the diaspora face obstacles in the financing of the election campaign. The restriction on financing campaign activities with money earned abroad is absurd as the candidates from the diaspora earn their living outside the country. “The politicians’ attitude to the diaspora is of a consumer. They want only money from the diasporas as the diaspora annually sends home over US$ 1 billion and this money maintains the country’s economy. But the politicians from Moldova do not want the diaspora to become actively involved in national politics, to run and change things in the country,” he stated.
Among his priorities, the independent candidate mentioned the creation of a healthy economic environment in the Republic of Moldova, which will enable to develop businesses, especially in the IT sector, reduction in taxes and rooting out of corruption. Oleg Bînzar said in the future Parliament he will cooperate with forces that have the same views and will not form an alliance with the Party of Socialists, the Democratic Party and the Shot Party.
