The Constitutional Court will decide whether the mandates of the Home Democracy Party will be validated or not. The decision was made by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), based on several complaints filed by the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), the National Investigation Inspectorate (INI), and other individuals, reports IPN.
The Vice President of the CEC, Pavel Postica, explained that the situation raises questions about the fairness of the electoral process and that the cancellation of the electoral competitor’s registration cannot be decided by the CEC at this stage. “The constitutional jurisdiction is to rule in the process of validating the elections and the mandates of the deputies,” Pavel Postica clarified.
PAS has reported that George Simion, the leader of the AUR party in Romania, who is banned in the Republic of Moldova for national security reasons, allegedly urged voters to vote for Vasile Costiuc, the leader of the PDA. According to the complaint, his involvement in the election campaign would have constituted a risk of foreign influence and a violation of the law, especially since some promotional materials were allegedly distributed contrary to the law.
In turn, the National Investigation Inspectorate reported that on the 27th and 28th of September, it monitored activity on social networks and identified a series of accounts on the TikTok platform, which promoted the Home Democracy Party through video content with an electoral agitation character, even on the day when such activities are prohibited by law. Moreover, some of the posted videos would have been financed, although the party did not provide information about financial sources in this regard.
“The analysis of the situation reveals that the Home Democracy Party has benefited from a coordinated electoral promotion, through inauthentic digital means, involving fake accounts and massive distributions, in which foreign officials, declared undesirable in Moldova, were involved,” mentioned Pavel Postica.
The PDA representatives assert that the party cannot be held accountable for the actions of third parties and that it has not spent money on online promotion during the campaign.
The leader of the party, Vasile Costiuc, has contested the evidence presented and has filed several requests on this matter. “We started the election campaign respecting the letter of the law. We have enough media power online, without needing the support of who knows who,” Vasile Costiuc pointed out.
At the same time, the Home Democracy Party (PDA) was deprived of state budget allocations for a period of one year, by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).
PDA can challenge today’s decision of the CEC in court.
According to preliminary results, the Democracy at Home Party has gained entry into Parliament, accumulating 5.62% of the votes. Thus, they are expected to have 6 deputies in the future Parliament.
Disclaimer: This material was produced within the project implemented by the IPN Press Agency – “Integration through Cooperation and Information” and is funded by the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova. The content of this publication does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.
