The Party “Action and Solidarity” (PAS) warns about the risk that political parties will have their activity paralyzed before the election campaign. Sergiu Litvinenko, a standing member of the party’s National Political Bureau, told a news conference that the problem derives from the amendment to Article 47, paragraph 7 of the Election Code proposed by Democratic MP Angel Agache. Under this amendment, the parties in the electoral period will be able to receive donations not into their accounts, but in a special election fund. The biggest problem is the fact that the electoral period starts on December 1 and the special fund for elections can be opened only after January 1, 2019, after the election runners are registered by the Central Election Commission, IPN reports.
“We will witness a situation in which the activity of political parties that finance themselves honestly will be practically blocked from December 1 until January 1. December is the period right before the start of the election campaign when a party needs to meet with citizens, to make field trips, to prepare informational materials and they will be unable to perform these activities that are normal for a political parties if they do not receive legal donations,” stated Sergiu Litvinenko.
PAS leader Maia Sandu said the Democratic Party is to blame for the creation of this situation. The Democrats create impediments before the election campaign for parties that finance themselves correctly, transparently and legally. “The Democratic Party proposes bad laws. It gathered millions of lei in cash, violating the law. No state institution investigated the violations committed by the PDM when collecting funds. The Democratic Party finances itself non-transparently, obliging its members to sign donations that they didn’t make,” she stated.
The politician demanded that the Central Election Commission should identify a solution to solve these problems. If the situation is not clarified, the possibility of having free and fair elections in Moldova will be further diminished.
Contacted by IPN, CEC president Alina Russu, who is on a fact-finding visit abroad, said she cannot speak on the phone. CEC member Iurie Ciocan stated only the Commission’s administration can talk to the press.
