Ombudsman Ceslav Panico is concerned about the situation around the election in the Gagauz autonomy, calling for better communication between the central and local authorities and for greater transparency in processing the election results. According to Panico, if electoral violations have been committed, the public deserves to know more, while those responsible should be held accountable.

“The Office of the Ombudsman, the National Institution for the Defense of Human Rights, based on its general mandate to monitor observance of human rights, but also by virtue of its role as a promoter and defender of democracy and the rule of law, monitors the electoral process in UTA Gagauzia and the whole spectrum of aspects relevant to the electoral process”, it said in a press release.|

The Ombudsman recommends that hate speech or speech that incites hatred be avoided, and that media organization refrain from spreading such speech.

On Tuesday, law enforcement officers carried out investigative actions at the Comrat Court and at the Central Electoral Commission of UTA Gagauzia. The National Anticorrution Center said it seized electoral lists on suspicions that multiple votes were cast using the names of people who had left abroad or who had died.

Meanwhile, the Gagauz legislature strongly condemned the actions, blaming Chisinau of undue interference in what it insisted was a legitimate election. Earlier the Gagauz electoral body confirmed Shor Party’s Yevgeniya Gutsul as the winner of the gubernatorial election.