The circular issued by the Central Election Commission (CEC) concerning election campaign funding generates a number of questions and suspicions, said the head of Promo-LEX’s observation mission for the presidential elections Pavel Postica. According to the expert, as the CEC during a number of electoral exercises had different approaches on the same issue and especially because it is not the authority that should interpret the legislation, the circular should be abrogated, IPN reports.
In a news conference, Pavel Postica said that only Parliament can interpret the legislation. Respectively, the aspects described by the CEC in its circular go much beyond its powers. The expert also made reference to the Electoral Code provisions stipulating that the political parties can financially support the candidates they fielded in elections, including in the presidential ones, within the limits of the financial resources available in the party’s current account when the election campaign starts.
“It should also be noted that the CEC continuously had interpretations on the same subject during all the election campaigns held since 2014. Respectively, in 2014 at least two political parties exceeded the cap set for legal entities and donated sums larger than the caps set for legal entities. And the CEC accepted this,” explained Pavel Postica.
According to him, in the elections of 2015 seven parties didn’t obey the cap set for legal entities and this thing was also accepted by the CEC. In 2016, four parties exceeded the cap, in 2018 – two parties, in 2019 – two parties, in the local elections of 2019 – two parties. “As we can see, during many years the Central Election Commission had one position, but now, ahead of the election campaign, it changes the rules of the game,” noted the head of the election observation mission.
The CEC issued a circular on the election campaign funding, saying this is designed to clarify electoral legislation norms on the issue. PAS leader Maia Sandu asked to annul the circular, saying this document is a new fraud planned by Igor Dodon and Maxim Lebedinschi, by which parties are banned from financing the campaign of candidates in the upcoming elections.
