OSCE approves of conduct of election campaign in Moldova

The Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) approves of the way in which the campaign for the November 28 early legislative elections is conducted in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communique from the Mission. The Mission welcomes the amendment to the Election Code, resulting in a number of positive changes that addressed many previous recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, including the lowering of the thresholds to enter Parliament. Two controversial amendments altered the mandate allocation methodology to the benefit of smaller parties and provided students with a simplified method to vote at the place where they study. According to the OSCE/ODIHR Mission, the campaign is gaining momentum. It is competitive and at times tense. Some campaigning has been sharply negative. There have been several small incidents including an altercationinvolving one party leader’s bodyguards and break-ins at two party offices. Recent improvements in the media landscape, including the launching of two news-oriented channels, have increased the plurality of views available to the public. The Mission says women make up 27 per cent of candidates running in these elections. As of 30 October, the majority of parties have women among the first ten candidates on their party lists. There are two parties chaired by a woman - the National Liberal Party led by Vitalia Pavlicenco and the Conservative Party led by Natalia Nirca. There are also two female independent candidates and another three awaiting the CEC’s decision on their registration. There were 25 women in the outgoing Parliament. Generally, there are no legal obstacles to the participation of national minorities in the electoral process. On 2 March 2010, the Social Political Movement of the Roma People was registered as a party and subsequently, as a contestant in the upcoming elections. It is the only political party claiming to represent one specific national minority, the Mission stated. As to campaign financing, many parties complain that after so many recent elections, they do not have sufficient funds left to undertake vigorous campaigns. On 26 October, 11 parties that were registered the earliest submitted their first financial reports. The PCRM included in its report information about two individuals who donated 250,000 lei each (about €15,400). Some media reported that these donors had very modest incomes, which raised questions about the veracity of the data submitted. As it is not in the CEC’s competence to verify the financial reports, the CEC sent these and other political party financial reports to the Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption to assess their accuracy. This is the eight Election Observation Mission of the OSCE/ODIHR in Moldova. During the monitoring, the Mission will publish two reports, while the next day after the elections it will make public the preliminary monitoring results. The final report will be published two months after the elections. The CEC has registered 10 monitors representing the OSCE/ODIHR.