The national and regional mass media favor the present governor of Gagauzia Gheorghe Tabunscic to the detriment of other candidates. This was one of the conclusions found by the monitoring of the electoral campaign in the region, organized as part of the project “Free and Fair Elections for the Governor of Gagauzia”, financed by the Eurasia Foundation. The reports on the monitoring were made public Thursday November 2, at a press conference. Thus, the media monitoring produced by the Independent Press Association (API) in concert with IJC came to a conclusion that the media has favored a single candidate at the polls, namely the present bashkan of Gagauzia Gheorghe Tabunscic, often not taking into account the other candidates. Tabunscic’s opponents were less mentioned in the news and newspapers, while the monitored mass media broadcasted and printed news in which the central authorities speak in a praiseful manner about the authorities of Gagauzia. “Tabunscic is visibly supported by the publications funded from public money as well”, director executive of API, Petru Macovei said, giving the example of the regional newspapers “Vesti Gagauzii” and “Znamea”. According to the report, Moldova 1 TV channel has also indirectly endorsed the present bashkan, by broadcasting laudatory remarks about Tabunscic in the news, including President Voronin’s statements. A single publication was found showing favoritism to another candidate – the municipal newspaper “Stolita” from Comrat, who supported the mayor of the named municipality. The press abstained from publishing critics against candidates though, Macovei pointed out. Igor Botan, director executive of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT), explains this thing saying that the region is not so large, comprising about 30 settlements. Thus, active people know each other and avoid direct attacks. ADEPT emphasized other particularities of the elections in Gagauzia: if the electoral legislation of Moldova took up certain international recommendations in the field, then the autonomy’s legislation avoided to do so. Botan also observed that the legislation of the autonomy allows the use of the Electoral Code of Moldova in convenient situations. According to the expert, these facts leave room for ambiguity; for instance, it is yet not known what kind of identity papers the regions’ residents will have to bear exactly to cast their ballots. ADEPT also pleads for the candidates’ debarment from the positions they hold, so that the positions of candidate and civil servant don’t overlap. Paul Strutzescu, head of the League for the Defense of Human Rights in Moldova (LADOM), said in this respect that the League has traced the utilization of the administrative resources by the present bashkan. Among the irregularities mentioned by Strutzescu there is the political parties’ support offered to all the electoral candidates, even if they declared themselves unaffiliated, the electors being misled. “I also remarked another regrettable fact – the involvement of certain deputies from the State Duma of the Russian Federation, implementing a programme using financial resources of a foreign state. I mean the humanitarian aid offered to the veterans of the Second World War”, LADOM director added. The monitoring was carried out in the period of October 4-28, as part of the project “Free and Fair Elections for the Governor of Gagauzia”, funded by Eurasia Foundation, with help from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Sida/Asdi) and National Endowment for Democracy, USA. The elections for the office of head of Gagauzia will be held on 3 December 2006.