ECHR will examine PLDM versus Moldova case, the party says

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted the application filed by the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM) on February 17, whereby the party challenges the authorities’ refusal to ensure the right to vote in the April 5 parliamentary elections of the Moldovan people living abroad, PLDM first vice president Alexandru Tanase told a news conference on Wednesday, February 25. The official of the Fourth Chamber of the ECHR Clare Ovez announced that the PLDM’s application was registered and will be examined as an emergency, Alexandru Tanase said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “It is an important step in guaranteeing the rights of the people. It is an action that we will successfully complete. We hope that the case will be tried in the nearest future and the decision will be favorable so that the normative framework could be modified and no one could impose prohibitions of this kind,” Alexandru Tanase said. In order to maintain a direct connection with the Moldovan communities abroad, the PLDM will set up a Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Moldovans Abroad within the party. Iurie Leanca, candidate on behalf of the PLDM, said that the Committee will promote and protect the rights of the Moldovans working abroad at the national and international levels and will monitor the April 5 elections at the representative offices of the diplomatic missions and consular offices. “The Committee will have a center for collecting and systematizing problems related to the protection and promotion of our co-nationals’ rights,” Leanca said. According to him, the Moldovan authorities can open polling stations in the honorific consular offices located in the countries where there are Moldovan emigrants. “The resolution of the problem depends on the political will, not on financial aspects,” Iurie Leanca said. On February 25, the Chisinau Court of Appeals rejected the application to oblige the Central Election Commission (CEC) to set up 20 additional polling places abroad lodged by the Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN). The AMN asked the court to cancel the CEC’s refusal to open five polling places in Romania, by three in Italy, Russia, Ukraine and the U.S., two in Portugal and one in Ireland. Judge Lidia Bulgac rejected the AMN’s application, saying that it was legally unsupported. The decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice within three days of the pronouncement.