Mihail Sirkeli, executive director of the Comrat-based Youth Center “Pligrim-Demo”, said the people in Gagauzia are represented in Parliament by the political parties for which thy voted. He does not think that the Gagauz region should be offered five seats in Moldova’s legislature as Parliament is not formed according to ethnic criteria. The expert stated his opinion in the public debate “Framework for regulating and ensuring 2014 parliamentary elections: guarantees, innovations, challenges and dangers” that was staged by IPN News Agency in partnership with Radio Moldova.
“As regards the behavior of the local politicians, it is similar to that of all the other politicians from Moldova. Each politician wants to have a place under the sun. The People’s Assembly of Gagauzia is now discussing a legislative initiative concerning the electoral process in the region. We are monitoring this process and consider that this bill must be modified so that it meets the international standards and the Election Code of Moldova. The national and local legislation must be harmonized. The problem is that there is no communication between the central authorities and regional authorities of Gagauzia,” stated Mihail Sirkeli.
Referring to the possibility of Gagauzia putting forward independent candidates for the parliamentary elections, the expert noted that this subject is discussed by the politicians, but it is not debated in society. “I do not agree with those saying that the people of Gagauzia do not have representatives in Parliament. First of all, Parliament is not formed according to ethnic criteria. In the previous elections, 60% of the Gagauz electors voted for the Communist Party. Thus, they are represented by this party,” said Mihail Sirkeli.
As to the quality of elections in Moldova, Mihail Sirkeli stated that not everything depends on the Central Election Commission and the electoral bodies. “Many things depend on the politicians and the voters as well. From my viewpoint, the future election campaign will encounter problems related to the financing of campaigns and parties and to the coverage by the mass media,” he said.
Mihail Sirkeli approved of the results of the 2011 local elections, saying the fact that the OSCE sent a small delegation, not a large mission for monitoring is a good sign. “We will see how the election campaign is funded and covered by the media. The Election Code wasn’t amended. There are two relevant bills in Parliament, but they will not take effect before the elections even if they are adopted soon. There is no political will to change the rules of the game. As regards Gagauzia, it will take part in the elections. I don’t think there will be a great difference as regards the presence and that the call of particular politicians to boycott the elections will produce results,” he stated.
The public debate “Framework for regulating and ensuring 2014 parliamentary elections: guarantees, innovations, challenges and dangers” is the 32nd of the series of debates “Development of political culture in public debates” that are staged by IPN Agency with the support of the German foundation “Hanns Seidel”.
