Violations found out during Gagauz elections did not influence the final result

The observers at the elections in Gagauzia informed about several violations that however did not influence the final results of the second round of elections, Paul Strutzescu, the chairman of the League for Human Rights Defence reported on December 18. According to him, the electoral process took place according to the principles of free and fair elections. The elections were calm and the voters were not stopped to express their right to vote. At the same time, the observers informed about several violations such as prohibiting to some observers to carry out their mission, justifying by the fact that the accreditations for the elections from December 3 are not valid for the second round of elections; influencing the voters by offering alcoholic drinks; illegal involvement of public authorities; electoral propaganda on the day of the elections; the presence of policemen in the polling stations etc. Strutzescu also said about the fact that LADOM dispatched 128 observers to those 64 polling stations. They performed a parallel counting. The following were the results publicised: the mayor of Ciadar-Lunga, Mihail Formuzal gained 56.23% and his opponent, the mayor of Comrat, Nicolae Dudoglo 43.77%. About 63% of voters participated in the elections. Petru Macovei, executive director of the Independent Press Association who observed the way the media acted in the electoral campaign said that within the 2 round of elections the press was more or less equilibrated with a tendency to favour Dudoglo. On the whole, no serious violations that would prove that the media directly favoured a candidate occurred, he stated. Mihai Formuzal is the mayor of Ciadar-Lunga and one of the leaders of People’s Republican Party. He is also known as the leader of the region’s opposition, the chairman of “Edinaia Gagauzia” movement. The Bashkan of Gagauzia is elected for a term of 4 years and becomes a member of the Government.