The exclusion of the electoral contender Marina Tauber from the competition for the mayoralty of the municipality of Bălți does not contain political elements and is based strictly on regulations of the Electoral Code, expert of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) Mihai Mogîldea stated in a public debate entitled “Elections in Bălti: between justice and politics, between lawfulness and surprises” that was hosted by IPN. According to the expert, the intention of Șor Party’s representatives is to make victims of themselves before the voters and to gain political benefits through this case, IPN reports.
The IPRE expert said the courts’ decision to exclude representatives of Șor Party from the electoral race and the Central Election Commission’s decision to suspend the runoff in Bălți is similar to that of 2018, when the term of mayor of Chisinau won by Andrei Năstase was invalidated.
‘There is a big difference compared with 2018 as an abuse was committed then given that there was no Electoral Code provision regulating the dissemination of the electoral messages of an electoral contender on social media. Now such provisions are stipulated in the Electoral Code and CEC can pronounce on the observance or non-observance of these provisions. I don’t think we can speak about political interference in the current case as the decision published by CEC makes reference to legal and juridical aspects. The second element refers to the way in which CEC members who took such a decision were named, as regards their experience and professionalism. The CEC’s work so far didn’t generate doubts about political interference,” stated Mihai Mogîldea.
According to the expert, the accusations concerning influence exerted by President Maia Sandu on court decisions are unfounded. The goal of the representatives of Șor Party is to damage the image of the President by engaging Maia Sandu in the scandal witnessed in Bălți. The President of the Republic of Moldova does not have such prerogatives and wouldn’t have had instruments to do this.
Mihai Mogîldea said Șor Party managed in time to secure political capital and to attract voters only by corrupting electors and this spoils the image of this party.
“This case forms part of a long-lasting phenomenon seen in the Republic of Moldova and is aimed at distracting attention from the real problems of society. It seems that the situation in Bălți is the most important problem faced by the Republic of Moldova. The Șor Party aims to damage the image of the government by this case,” stated the expert.
The debate “Elections in Bălti: between justice and politics, between lawfulness and surprises” is the 217th debate of the series “Developing Political Culture thorough Public Debates”. The project is implemented by IPN with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
