IDIS “Viitorul” will appeal against CEC decision to partly accept PCRM contestation

The Institute for Development and Social Initiative (IDIS) “Viitorul” will appeal the March 31 decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to partly accept the contestation of the Communist Party (PCRM) against IDIS “Viitorul” and the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections – Coalition 2009 to the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Info-Prim Neo reports. On March 17, the representative of the PCRM asked the CEC to warn IDIS for not observing the electoral legislation, referring especially to civic education materials devised by the Institute as part of the “Stimulation of Civilian Responsibility during 2009 Election Campaign” project financed by the European Commission Delegation to Moldova through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. The PCRM claims that the materials are aimed against the PCRM and represent electoral propaganda in favor of its rivals. On March 31, the CEC accepted the contestation partially. “Witnessing the excessive politicization of the CE decisions, misuse of the powers offered by the Election Code and use of subjective arguments instead of conclusive evidence, IDIS “Viitorul” decided to appeal the CEC decision to the Court of Appeals,” the Institute says in a press statement. IDIS describes the CEC decision as aberrant and unreasonable and considers that it affects the freedom of opinion, the political pluralism and democracy in Moldova. “The decision reveals a shameful partisanship of some of the CEC members in favor of the PCRM. The consequences of this decision will be suffered by the five CEC members that got involved in this denigrating race,” the statement says. As a member of Coalition 2009, IDIS “Viitorul” insists that it acted according to its right to opinion, excluding political bias, with the aim of correctly informing and mobilizing the people by democratic education, in accordance with the European practices and the experience accumulated by IDIS “Viitorul”. The main difference between electoral propaganda (promotion of a candidate or a party) and civic education resides in the attitudes towards certain problems taken by those that do not take part in the electoral race. The issues raised by IDIS (the EU, poverty, political responsibility, democratic institutions, etc.) form part of a public and democratic election campaign and contain no hints in favor or against the election runners, IDIS said. Coalition 2009 is a voluntary union of Moldovan NGOs that aim to contribute to free, fair, transparent and democratic elections for the Parliament. It continues the activities promoting free and fair elections initiated by Coalition 2005 and Coalition 2007 and has over 70 NGO members.