Complaints about election campaign must be investigated – OSCE PA President

It is important that the complaints voiced by the representatives of the opposition parties are investigated to see whether they are founded or not, Goran Lennmarker, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) stated on Friday, May 18, upon the completion of his visit to Moldova. The European official said he has spent less than 48 hours in Moldova, so it is difficult for him to assess the election campaign. But there are observers on behalf of the OSCE that follow the Moldovan local elections very carefully, and they will produce a very detailed report, not only on the elections, but also on the election campaign, he said. The OSCE AP President met with some parties from the opposition and they had some complaints about the way the election campaign is organised. In the context of the Transnistrian conflict, Lennmarker said he is very optimistic and considers that the “5+2” negotiations must be resumed as soon as possible. This is the best format for the settlement of the dispute and it is not right to look for another settlement mechanism, the cited source said. When asked whether during his visit to Tiraspol the Transnistrian authorities were willing to resume the talks, Lennmarker said he got mixed signals on that. “I heard reasons why it was so difficult to continue the talks. But my main message is: you must look in the future, not back in the past”, he underlined. Moldovan Speaker Marian Lupu mentioned, for his part, that during the discussions with the OSCE official it was emphasised the need to unconditionally resume the negotiations and the inopportunity of another negotiation format. Also, they exchanged opinions on several issues, including on the future actions and contacts between the Parliament from Chisinau and the OSCE PA, issues related to bilateral relations etc. During his two-day visit to Moldova, Goran Lennmarker met with the leadership of Moldova, representatives of all the parliamentary parties, officials from Chisinau, as well as with the separatist leaders from Tiraspol.