The elections hassle in Comrat started long before the elections date was set

The activity of the municipal newspaper „Stolita Comrat” from the din UTA Gagauz-Yeri became a discussion topic in the municipal Council of Comrat just before the Gagauz baskan elections, which are supposed to take place this year. The „Edinstvo” fraction, formed from communists and socialists, condemned the publication of “biasness” and “unilateral attitude”, suggested to dismiss the editor-in-chief, while the editorial staff claims this is a political maneuver, meant to free this position for someone submissive to the current leadership. The issue regarding the newspaper’s activity has been included, at the request of „Edinstvo” fraction, on the agenda of the Municipal Council meeting from September 5, with the suggestion to dismiss the chief editor Ana Harlamenco. On the Council’s mass media Committee request, it was decided to create a commission that will study the situation and will create a decision project by the council’s next meeting on October 10. Inquired by Info-Prim Neo, Ana Harlamenco declared that the true cause of the scandal she was involved in are the indications of the UTAG authorities to leave the editor-in-chief position for a person obedient to the authorities, and thus to have control over all information means from the UTA. „Because they did not dare to close the newspaper with such a solid name and reputation, it was decided to set the publication under control just before the baskan elections by replacing the editor-in-chief, and therefore assuring the periodical will be controlled by the authorities”, the quoted source claims. Harlamenco claims that she became improper after her brother, mayor of Comrat Nicolai Dudoglo, decided to run for the baskan position of UTAG, and the local authorities did not manage to influence on his decision. According to Ana Harlamenco, during the publication’s 1.5 years of activity, the council did not forward any objections regarding the newspaper’s activity, especially regarding the activity of the editor-in-chief, which was appreciated a year ago with the “Honored Journalist of Gagauzia”. Furthermore, her contract signed with the founders of the publication – the Municipal Council and the Mayoralty – expires in February 2007. The journalist also objected that the municipal council analyzed this situation while she was on a sick leave. The head of the mass-media committee, Ecaterina Jekova stated for Info-Prim Neo that the accusations forwarded to the chief editor are unjust, which, according to the cited source, is a professional journalist, one of the 2 or 3 journalist of the region that possess the “Honored Journalist of Gagauzia” distinction, and the action taking place “are, undoubtedly, with a political subtext”. Chairman of the municipal council, Constantin Novac, declared for the Agency’s reporter that the local administration previously had several objections regarding the approach to certain topics in the „Stolita Comrat” newspaper. The cited source claims that the publication is in the favor of the mayor and the Mayoralty at whole and is critical about the Council’s activity. Novac claims that the newspaper already began the electoral campaign, although the baskan election date was not appointed yet. The „Stolita Comrat” newspaper’s staff expressed their solidarity with the editor-in-chief, and qualified this incident as a demonstration of the local authority’s attitude towards the UTA Gagauz-Yeri mass-media. In an letter to the newspapers and mass-media associations from the Republic of Moldova, the newspaper requested their support and solidarity, and mentioned that such actions could hamper the freedom of expression and the access to information of simple citizens. Moreover, the editorial announced the foreign representations in the Republic of Moldova about the pressure on the region’s press, and therefore violations of the Republic of Moldova Constitution.