Roma voters were insufficiently informed about political parties’ electoral programs, NGO chairman

The Roma voters were inadequately informed about the electoral programs of the political parties. As a result, the opinion leaders from the Roma communities had a greater influence on their choices, said Nicolae Radita, the chairman of the National Roma Center, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. According to Radita, the Roma voters went to the April 5 polls in an organized way. “The election day is very important for the Romanies, especially men, as it is related to the power. The Roma man dresses in festive clothes and goes to vote,” Nicolae Radita told a news conference held Wednesday to present the first report on the turnout of Roma voters. Radita said that the Roma population shows a great interest in the political life, but the political parties are not very interested in them. For different reasons like fear and disinterest, most of them prefer to ignore the Romanies or attract their votes through the agency of the leaders of the Roma communities, he said. Radita considers that all the parties should address the problems faced by the Romany people in their platforms. “This population is uninformed and very vulnerable, but they should be informed and supported.” The chairman of the National Roma Center also said that if the political parties got more involved in the life of the Roma communities, the Romanies would participate more actively in the social and political life of Moldova. Nicolae Radita stressed that April 8 is the International Roma Day. “Today, it is a special day for the Romany people because the First World Romany Congress was held in London on this day.” The National Roma Council of Moldova monitored the participation of Romany people in elections with the financial support of the United States Embassy in Moldova and the OSCE, through the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.