European Action Movement sues CEC's decision to stamp voters ID cards

The European Action Movement (MAE) has sued the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of February 12 ordering the polling stations to apply stamps “ALEGERI 05.04.09” (Elections 05.04.09) on the voters' ID cards. MAE president Anatol Petrencu has said at a news conference hosted by Info-Prim Neo that the CEC's decision runs against a series of provisions of the Constitution and other laws, and should be canceled. The CEC is said to have exceeded its powers and to have violated the checks-and-balances principle, according to Petrencu. “The Parliament did not establish applying the seal on ID cards in the Election Code,” said the MAE leader. MP Vitalia Pavlicenco, the former president of the National Liberal Party, the second on the MAE's list of parliamentary candidates, says the decision opens a gate for other abuses on the part of the CEC and for counterfeits. “We don't rule out that they will make several ID card attachments, which will bring several thousands of votes to the ruling party,” Pavlicenco said. The CEC explained its decision by the need not to allow a single person to vote several times. The MAE has presented a compilation called “Political and electoral file no. 1 of electoral competitor MAE”. It consists of 21 cases in which, according to the MAE, the ruling party – the Communists Party (PCRM) – uses the administrative resources for electoral purposes. “From February 10 to 14, Vladimir Voronin, the first candidate on the PCRM's, not suspending his powers of Moldova's president and using his state car with the numberplate RM 001, escorted by his political train, had electoral meetings in district in the north of the country” is a presented example. The MAE says the PCRM organizes electoral rallies in state-owned entities during the working hours, as the employees are obliged to attend those being threatened to get fired. “There are lots of cases of this kind, but the people are afraid to talk about them, fearing to have problems,” said MAE president Anatol Petrencu. The MAE plans to submit the file to the CEC. When asked by Info-Prim Neo, the PCRM's representative at the CEC, Serghei Sarbu, has said he will present references to this case, if the MAE submits a complaint to the CEC and brings concrete evidence, photos, videos. Referring to the accusation of Vladimir Voronin using the state car and the state motorcade, Sarbu has said it's a necessity stipulated in the law, regardless if the president is or is not an electoral aspirant.