The opening of accession negotiations with the European Union is a clear indicator that there is enough democracy in the Republic of Moldova for the country to be accepted at the negotiating table, PAS MP Igor Chiriac stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to him, it is extremely important for the ruling party that this autumn’s presidential election and referendum be held correctly and that the citizens freely express their voting option. The MP noted that in order to ensure the right to vote for as many voters as possible, the PAS government introduced postal - an initiative that was welcomed by the Venice Commission.
Igor Chiriac said that there are no preconditions for the massive fraud of this year’s two electoral exercises - the presidential election and the constitutional referendum. The amendments made to the electoral legislation are sufficient to ensure the smooth running of the voting process.
“The Republic of Moldova obtained the EU candidate status. Negotiations were recently opened and this means that there is sufficient democracy in the Republic of Moldova to admit the country to the negotiating table. For us, it is important that the elections be free and fair and that the people trust the electoral process. Currently, the legislation is sufficient to ensure a free and fair electoral process,” said PAS MP Igor Chiriac.
He explained that the new Electoral Code stipulates that the position of chairman of the district electoral council will be permanent. The appointment of the heads of the second-level electoral bodies for a fixed term will ensure institutional memory and was a recommendation of international institutions.
“The institution of the position of head of second-level electoral bodies was a recommendation of international institutions. Until now, these heads were appointed by political parties. Representatives of local public authorities and a representative of the courts, from the register of electoral officials, proposed persons for this position. They were new people and that’s why it was proposed that the position of head should be occupied by a person who could ensure institutional memory. The permanence of this function was necessary because the second-level district electoral council has duties and responsibilities between elections as well. It supervises the State Register of Voters because this Register is permanently updated,” explained the MP.
Igor Chiriac noted that, for the first time, postal voting will be implemented in the presidential election and the referendum of the autumn. The process will be piloted in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. If no faults are experienced, at the next election it will be extended to cover the entire diaspora.
“A new mechanism of postal voting was established. It is something that didn’t exist earlier in the electoral processes in the Republic of Moldova. Being a new process, it is normal for the people to ask questions. Last week, the Venice Commission examined this draft law and welcomed the introduction of postal voting. The Commission noted that this process creates opportunities for more people to participate in the electoral process. The Commission even recommended that if the postal voting does not create problems in the autumn elections, it should be implemented in all the countries where there are citizens of the Republic of Moldova and where conditions are provided in this regard,” stated Igor Chiriac.
The public debate entitled “What safeguards are needed against election fraud?” was the 309th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates”, which is implemented with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
