The Election Code and the changed voting system puts small parties, opposition parties and parties outside Parliament at a disadvantage, as conditions are created for the parties in government to use administrative resources in their favor at both local and central level, believes Polina Panainte, secretary of the Free and Fair Elections coalition of NGOs.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe’s Moldovan service, Polina Panainte said the amount that individuals can donate to a party is exaggerated, being as high as 300,000 lei. And such donations are not uncommon, with parties in Moldova being largely financed by a narrow group of people or businesses.
“And we only have access to information about the donors’ names. No occupation or job information is provided. As a result, there’s no way for us to safely know whether these people can really afford to give away amounts many times a Moldovan’s average salary. So, on several occasions we requested that such information be revealed in order to prevent the risk of fraudulent donations. Because it is quite common to seen random people on party donor lists, and they include pensioners, teachers or doctors, who simply cannot afford to be that generous”, says Polina Panainte, adding that most likely the money comes from other sources.
A solution could be to only allow direct bank transfers, including card payments, as a way for an individual to donate to parties. This, in Panainte’s opinion, could increase transparency and at least make it more troublesome for parties to fake donations. Another solution is to staff the election authority with more inspectors trained in financial audit to verify the donations and the donors’ status, and this effort should not be restricted to election seasons, but continue in between campaigns, when parties don’t feel the pressure of scrutiny and are more likely to engage in donation fraud.
As concerns the issue of Moldovan expats being able to donate, Panainte says the current rules that forbid them from doing so is unfair. “Under the new voting system, Moldovans from abroad are afforded the right to be represented in Parliament, to elect their own deputies, yet the Election Code doesn’t provide the tools for their election campaigns. The Code restricts non-residents from contributing financially to campaign efforts. This means that if a person from the diaspora is willing to run in the legislative elections, he or she will have trouble finding money for the campaign and asking Moldovan expats, friends or colleagues, to donate, as this would be against the law. Moreover, Moldovans from abroad can’t support a party campaigning here in Moldova, either, despite being invited to vote for one on election day”, says Polina Panainte.
This is unlikely to change any time soon, as good practice advises against any electoral amendments made close to elections. But above that—because, as Polina Panainte remarks, rules and good practice is not something that cannot be violated in Moldova—there is simply no will to change that.
