Even if it collected over 17,000 signatures in support of division general in reserve Ion Costaș, who intended to run for office of President, the initiative group stopped the process and will not submit the lists with signatures to the Central Election Commission. The general said he was informed about the flagrant violation by state institutions of the constitutional provisions concerning the election of the President by the public association Center for the Protection of Fundamental Rights “Sirius”.
“I do not want to be party to deviations from the requirements defined in the Constitution and the relevant laws. I do not want to take part further and call on the other candidates and aspirants for this post to stop collecting signatures. It should be clear to everyone that the elections are illegal from all the viewpoints. It’s a sin to further take part in this cheating and misleading of society and I, as a general and a military man, as a citizen of the Republic of Moldova, will not take part and call on the others also not to take part,” Ion Costaș said in a news conference at IPN.
The head of the Center for the Protection of Fundamental Rights “Sirius” Anatolie Petrici said this year’s presidential election was set by an illegitimate Parliament. “Why is it illegitimate? Because the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova hasn’t yet adopted an organic law by which to adopt the Election Code of the Republic of Moldova,” said Anatolie Petrici.
“The Constitutional Court (which validates the elections) in its activity abides by three regulations, including the Code of Constitutional Jurisdiction. But this Code of Constitutional Jurisdiction is also null and inexistent as it wasn’t adopted by organic law either, as Article 72 of the Constitution provides,” stated Anatolie Petrici.
“The presidential election cannot take place for one more reason. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova can be amended, complemented, revised by two ways only – by constitutional laws in Parliament and by a national referendum. The Constitution was falsified two times with respect to the presidential election, the first time in 2000 by Parliament itself, which adopted the law of July by which it apparently revised the Constitution,” said Anatolie Petrici. According to him, the second time the Constriction was falsified in 2016, when the Constitutional Court decided to restore the direct election of the President, exceeding its authority.
Jurist Victor Strătilă said the political class of the Republic of Moldova is corrupt and irresponsible. When coming to power, it makes effort to appoint loyal persons by all methods. A person with an irreproachable reputation, with special honesty, with verticality and integrity cannot take part in this election campaign. “Regrettably, the political class, by its representatives named on the Central Election Commission, from the start made it clear that the political parties have priority, while the independent candidates are placed last or are prevented from running. It is also the case of general Costaș,” stated Victor Strătilă.
