Election campaign was free yet with numerous irregularities

The campaign preceding the November 28 parliamentary elections was free, but partly fair, according to a number of civil society representatives, who were asked by Info-Prim Neo to rate the whole electoral process, from the early days of the election campaign to the actual ballot on November 28. The term “partly fair” is explained differently by the questioned political analysts and leaders of NGOs. Petru Macovei, executive director of the Independent Press Association (API), thinks the election authorities exceeded their authority in certain cases and did more than required. “The letter of the electoral law was not always followed”, said Macovei. Political analyst Corneliu Ciurea finds the greatest shortcoming of the election campaign to be the lack of financial transparency. “A large part of the expenses incurred by the parties in their campaigns were not properly accounted for. The real amount spent by the electoral competitors is five times than what it was showed”. Victor Chirila, executive director of the Foreign Policy Association, spoke about the deficiency and inconsistency of election debates where the candidates could address the needs of the citizens. One subject which the electoral competitors did cover widely was corruption, but those messages were rather unsubstantiated accusations against other competitors. Daniela Terzi-Barbarosie, executive director of the Partnership for Development Center, said that the electoral competitors had an aggressive promotional activity, thinking that people can be influenced by huge billboards scattered across the country or their smiling faces on popular magazine covers. At the same time, most NGO leaders saluted the political intelligence of the voters who, this time, demonstrated shrewdness in selecting a candidate or another. They also praised the media for their role in the campaign, for showing the unknown aspects of some political competitors and for dedicating much airtime to political subjects. “This abundance of televised broadcasts was yet another reminder of how important it is to make a conscious choice when electing the Parliament”, added Daniela Terzi-Barbarosie.