CEC decides to organise new and rerun elections in a number of settlements

The holding of new and rerun elections in Buteni village, Hancesti district, and in Chirca commune, Anenii Noi district, provoked intense discussions at Tuesday’s meeting of the Central Election Commission. Representatives of the two settlements participated in the meeting, supporting their electoral candidates. A court of law invalidated the repeat elections in Buteni held on July 1 because an earlier decision to exclude the candidate on behalf of the Moldova Noastra Alliance, Anatolie Postolachi, from the ballot papers was not implemented. Postolachi polled the largest number of votes. CEC Secretary Iurie Ciocan suggested organising rerun elections on September 16 by excluding the respective candidate. The proposal aroused the dissatisfaction of the about 50 residents of the village attending the meeting. Owing to the noise made by the villagers, CEC was forced to interrupt the meeting for a while. A number of CEC members also rejected the proposal, while Mihai Busuleac submitted an alternative project to organise new elections in Buteni on September 11. At nominal voting, the project put forward by Busuleac got five of the eight votes cast. The case of elections in Chirca was much the same. Ciocan proposed organising rerun elections on September 16 under a court decision that declared the election results as invalid, by excluding the independent candidate Mihai Ganea, who won the largest number of votes. The residents present at the meeting also protested. CEC vice president Renata Lapti suggested not excluding Ganea from the ballots. Lapti’s proposal was supported by five of the eight CEC members present. Therefore, Chirca will hold rerun elections for mayor and local councilmen on September 16. Also on Tuesday, CEC decided to organise new elections in Corjova village on November 11. The elections held there on June 3 and 17 had been hindered by the separatist Transnistrian forces. New elections will take place in Drasliceni commune, Criuleni district, where the newly elected mayor was killed several weeks ago. New elections for councillor to the district council will be held in Rezina district on November 11, because all the three meetings of the newly elected council have not been deliberative.