Gagauzia holds by-elections this Sunday

On Sunday, November 23, the voters in the towns of Comrat, Cadyr-Lunga and Vulcanesti are invited to the polling stations to elect three legislators that will fill the vacancies in the 35-seat Gagauz People's Assembly, Info-Prim Neo reports. At a news conference on Friday, the Gagauz speaker, Anna Harlamenco, said 9 candidates have remained in the race. “Eleven candidates entered the race, including two on behalf the Communists Party, several unaffiliated politicians and representatives of other parties; two of them announced recently they were quitting in favor of other candidates”. The legislative by-elections in the Gagauz autonomy were announced after Mayor Nikolai Dudoglo of Comrat, an influential politician in the region, renounced his membership in the Assembly. Though the faction which supports him is the smallest – 5 members – it holds the chairmanship of the Assembly. Sergey Lazarev is a clergyman who stepped down last summer, citing a recommendation by Russia's Patriarch Alexy II who suggested the men of the cloth should concern themselves more with their sacred affairs than politics. The third legislator who resigned is Sergey Chernev. The Gagauz speaker expressed her confusion about the fact that the Communist faction refused to cooperate in the process of establishing an election committee. Yet, the group which supports Dudoglo and the faction which supports Governor Mikhail Formuzal have managed to adopt the decisions needed for the elections to take place. Anna Harlamenko also said at the conference that the Ministry of Local Administration has been challenging in court every decision adopted by the Assembly, but it hasn't reacted yet to the decisions concerning the elections. The Gagauz autonomy is the only administrative unit in Moldova where a uninominal voting system is in place, yet candidates may be fielded by political parties as well.