Former members of Buteni Electoral Council give explanations over December 16 incident to CEC

The Electoral District Council of Buteni village, Hancesti district, resigned over the tense situation in the settlement that was exacerbated by the law enforcement bodies, former president of the Electoral Council Ion Garbuz told the Central Election Commission (CEC) at the meeting of December 18. The tense situation worsened even more after employees of the Hancesti Prosecutor’s Office on December 13-15 summoned a number of residents to the institution, including members of the Council, and asked them to sign warning documents, Garbuz said. When they asked to be issued with a copy, the officers of the Prosecutor’s Office said that they cannot because they received instructions from their superiors. According to Garbuz, the most important event happened on Saturday, December 15, when the Ministry of Internal Affairs dispatched over 400 people to the village. They tried to intimidate the Council’s members during the vote counting process. The cited source said that it was impossible to hold elections on December 16 because the entrance to the polling station was blockaded by about 600-700 villagers. Asked by CEC members why they did not sought help from the police, Garbuz said that such an act would have imminently led to bloodshed. Other former members of the Electoral District Council of Buteni village said that the December 16 events were organised by certain interested circles. They said that new elections must be held in order to rectify the situation. The CEC members took cognizance of the decision of the Electoral District Council of Buteni village and thanked the former members for their “professionalism and courage”. The Electoral District Council of Buteni village, Hancesti district, resigned on Sunday, December 16.