Gagauzia Governor calls for repeat vote for People's Assembly chair

Gagauzia's Governor Mikhail Formuzal, ex-Governor Stepan Topal and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Mikhail Khendighelean urge the members of the People's Assembly, the autonomy's legislature, to re-run the procedure of electing their chairman, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a joint address, they express concern about the absence of the legislative process and about the threat that a series of programs of social importance could be compromised. “We call on the leaders of the three factions forming the People's Assembly, as well as on all the unaffiliated deputies, to desist from actions directed against the national unity and abstain from poor and ineffectual decisions”, the address says. Mikhail Formuzal, Stepan Topal and Mikhail Khendighelean suggest the voting procedure should be repeated under the supervision of the OSCE Mission to Moldova. Chairman must become any candidate that receives at least 18 votes expressed on valid ballots. Pursuant to an agreement signed earlier, the ballot papers which are marked in some way so as to be distinguished shall be declared invalid. “We think that the only one reasonable alternative to our proposal is the dissolution of the People's Assembly, amid the failure to honor the commitments the deputies made to the voters, and the announcement of early legislative elections”, reads the address. In a joint declaration, 17 members of the People's Assembly have accused the Communist Party of attempting to usurp the authority in Gagauzia. According to them, one the fundamental principles of free and fair elections – the secrecy of the vote – was violated on June 12 when the ballot papers were marked. The report of the counting commission shows that out of 34 ballots distributed among the members of the Assembly, 16 were in favor of Ana Harlamenko, 15 in favor of Demian Caraseni, and 3 were dismissed as spoilt. “The Communist faction, which constitutes less than a half of the legislature, ignoring the report of the counting commission, opposed a run-off and declared Demian Caraseni as elected chairman of the People's Assembly”, the declaration says. The signatories call on President Vladimir Voronin, who is also the president of the ruling Communist Party, to give up interfering with the affairs of the Assembly. At the same time, the Communist members of the Gagauz legislative body have denied the allegations. According to them, Caraseni was elected with the vote of 18 deputies. They also have said the election of the chairman was delayed by the intrusive actions of Governor Formuzal.