PL does not recognize election results

The Liberal Party (PL) does not recognize the results of the April 5 elections and considers that the ruling party – the Communist Party (PCRM) – falsified them, stealing at least 15% of the PL’s votes. The party says it will file a contestation to the Central Election Commission (CEC) and calls on the international community not to recognize the elections as free and fair, Info-Prim Neo reports. The PL president Mihai Ghimpu said Tuesday that the Liberal Party reached the conclusion that the PCRM fixed the April 5 legislative elections. “We have evidence, but decided to check the ballots so as to have a precise figure. Anyway, the PL has the right not to recognize the elections because the announced results do not express the real wish of the voters in Moldova,” Ghimpu said. According to the PL, the elections were rigged by multiple voting. “In Moldova, the people vote using the loose papers accompanying the identity cards, not the identity cards themselves,” the PL vice president Dorin Chirtoaca said. He said that the Ministry of Information Development, controlled by the ruling party, printed a large number of loose papers that were used to vote for several times under the basic and additional lists. The PL says that in Ciocana district of Chisinau a person came to vote with two loose papers indicating two different places of residence. “The number of voters was by 200,000 larger than at the previous elections. 30-40% of the voters at some of the polling stations exercised their right to vote under additional lists, especially in towns, where the people do not know each other. The Chisinau residents realized that by 4-5 persons that they did not know were registered in their apartments,” Chirtoaca said. The PL leaders consider that this subtle mechanism was planned beforehand and the observers could not notice it, the violations recorded being declared as minor. “It is regrettable that the Communists could mislead the national and international observers and the elections were declared free and fair,” said the PL vice president Corina Fusu. The PL said it would file a contestation to the CEC within seven days. It calls on the governments of the European Union member states, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the United States and the CEC not to recognize the outcome of the April 5 elections and make the Moldovan authorities rerun the elections. On Monday, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) and the Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN) said that the elections were not free and fair. The PLDM announced it would stage wide protests after consulting with the two parties. The AMN said it was ready to join the PLDM, while the PL has not yet decided. About 15,000 young persons protested in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau on Monday evening, challenging the results of the elections. The protest was resumed on Tuesday. According to the preliminary results announced by the CEC, the PCRM won the elections, polling about 50% of the vote. There more parties crossed the election threshold. These are: the PL that gained 12.75% of the poll, the PLDM with 12.26% and the AMN with 9.82%.