Elections in Gagauzia to be held on December 3

Elections for the office of the region’s governor will take place in the Territorial Administrative Unit Gagauz-Yeri on Sunday, December 3, 2006. Four candidates run for this office – the present bashkan Gheorghi Tabunscic, the deputy general prosecutor, Aleksandr Stoianoglo, the mayor of Comrat town Nicolae Dudoglo and the mayor of Ciadar-Lunga town Mihai Formuzal. The embassies of the EU member-countries, the representations of the European Commission, Council of Europe and OSCE Mission tp Moldova called on the authorities of Moldova to carry out free and fair elections in the region. “The elections will constitute an opportunity to prove to the population of Moldova and to the international community that Moldova respects and applies the principles of autonomy, democracy, human rights and rule of law”, the statement says. A report drawn by a group of independent observers, representatives of several NGOs shows that since the beginning of the electoral campaign the press from Gagauzia mostly favoured the present bashkan Gheorgi Tabunscic, avoiding however to defame the rest of the candidates. Tabunscic, who is supported by the Communist Party, named the European integration as a strategic priority for Moldova, although the voters from Gagauzia are traditionally directed towards Russia. His main competitor is considered to be the mayor of Ceadar-Lunga, Mihail Formuzal, who is supported by the pro-Russian bloc “Ravnopravie – Patria-Rodina”, which placed first in Gagauzia in the parliamentary elections in 2005. The pro-Russian parties “Patria-Rodina” and “Ravnopravie” obtained together in 2005 half of the votes in Gagauzia. The elections in Gagauzia will be observed by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which will draft a report on the election process.