The applications to register the initiative groups in support of candidates for President Alexandr Kalinin and Ion Costaș, who were nominated by the people’s assembly, were rejected by the Central Election Commission (CEC) for the reason that the procedure for choosing the candidate for President and the constitution of the initiative group didn’t comply with the legal norms, IPN reports.

The CEC registered seven other initiative groups in support of candidates for President, namely of Tudor Deliu, fielded by the Liberal Democratic Party, Renato Usatyi, of Our Party, Andrei Năstase, of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform”, Maia Sandu, of the Party of Action and Solidarity, Adrian Candu, of the Pro Moldova Party, Octavian Țîcu, of the National Unity Party, and Dorin Chirtoacă, of the Union Electoral Bloc.

Also today, the Commission issued the initiative group members with permits and lists for collecting signatures in favor of the candidates until October 1, 2020.

Under the Election Code, the initiative groups for supporting candidates for President must consist of at least 25 persons and at most 100 persons with the right to vote. The group is formed as a result of an assembly where the candidate for President of the Republic of Moldova is nominated, the group leader is chosen and the list of group members is approved. The initiative group can support only one candidate for President. The members of the initiative group cannot be simultaneously members of another initiative group. The election runners can start to campaign only after they are registered by the CEC.