There are no restrictions to campaign for elective office in another country, lawyer

The legislation contains no restrictions for anyone to conduct a political campaign on the territory of another country, lawyer Janeta Hanganu of {Hanganu, Tanase and Partners} told the agency {Info-Prim Neo}. Asked to comment on the “confusion” expressed by the Moldovan MFA as to the fact that the conducting of the race for Romania's Parliament on Moldovan territory “hasn't been discussed in advance” with the Moldovan central authorities, Hanganu said that, on the contrary, the Romanians should be concerned that their rights are not observed here in Moldova, adding: “it seems to me that we have developed a habit of tensing up the relationship with our neighbors”. “It's not the first time that a foreign country holds election campaigns on the territory of another country. It must be recalled that during the race for the Russian Duma, the Russian party didn't even bother to agree with the Moldovan authorities on the location of the polling places, which would be the right thing to do. Moreover, those elections as well as the elections for the Ukrainian Rada were held with transgressions, including on the Moldovan territory, including Transnistria”. Hanganu added that it's not the first time that Romanian citizens residing in the Republic of Moldova would participate in elections. “Previously, elections were held without any reaction from the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs”, and, as long as no Moldovan law is violated, no reaction should arise at all, the lawyer thinks. “Forbidding any assembly or demonstration for the political parties would imply the violation of Art. 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights”, she added. On November 21, the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration issued a press release to express its “confusion as to the fact that the conducting of the election campaign for Romania's legislative elections on Moldovan territory hasn't been coordinated with the Moldovan government”. In retort, the Romanian party assured that the candidates for Romania's Parliament were campaigning with full respect for both the Romanian and Moldovan laws and in conformity with the European and international standards. According to a press release from the Romanain MFA, “this is a natural democratic practice exercised by electoral competitors, which occurs in other countries inhabited by considerable numbers of Romanian citizens, like Italy, Spain or the U.S. (...) The Romanian citizens domiciled or residing abroad are entitled to the same rights as the Romanian citizens residing in Romania, including the right to elect and be elected”. For the first time in Romania's modern history, the upcoming legislative elections, scheduled for November 2008, reserves six seats in Romania's Parliament for the representatives of the Romanian diaspora. A number of candidates have presented their electoral offers in Chisinau.