The chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Iurie Ciocan considers that when the street exerts pressure on the electoral body, the effect is as noxious as when pressure is exerted by the government or the parliamentary opposition. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, Iurie Ciocan said that he and his colleagues from the CEC have been under political influence for a period, which is not good for an electoral body, IPN reports.
Asked if he could leave under the pressure of the street, Iurie Ciocan said this would be an act of great irresponsibility on his part. “I respect my profession. I always communicated with the protesters. I discussed with the people who protested in 2007 and also in 2005, when these demanded allowing the students to vote in Chisinau, and in 2009, when I worked daily in my office during those tragic events that happened in the Great National Assembly Square following the parliamentary elections. I every time talked to the people, stated my opinion and provided explanations to them. Regretfully, the political class has steadily exerted influence on the CEC and political nominations for posts in the electoral body continue to be made today,” he stated.
Referring to the protesters’ demand that the current legislative body should be dissolved and early elections should be called, Iurie Ciocan said the CEC did its job in 2014. “The elections of 2014 were generally accepted by the international community and by the Moldovan political class and civil society. After those elections, we didn’t witness mass protests or other events that would have questioned the election outcome. All the protests are first of all related to the dissatisfaction with the quality of life,” stated Ciocan.
According to the CEC chairman, the crisis in the banking sector merged with the political class’s crisis of morality. “The vices of the current political system surely affect the image of the institution I represent, one way or another. It’s definite and I want to reiterate that since the Central Election Commission was created, its strategic goal was to be a professional institution free from political influence so that we worked based on the professional freedom, guaranteed by law,” he said.
The people protesting in the central square of Chisinau and before the Parliament Building demand that early parliamentary elections should be called and seek the resignation of the managers of a number of state institutions, among which the CEC. According to the protesters, free and fair elections can be ensured only on such conditions.
