It's legal for President to use state cars in electoral race: Communist MP

The president and the premier do have the right to use the state cars, bodyguards and other items qualified as administrative resources to electioneer. The statement was made Wednesday at a round table titled "The Election Code – Legal Explanations" by the chair of the legal committee of the Parliament, Vladimir Turcan, running for a seat on the Communists' (PRCM) list of parliamentary candidates, Info-Prim Neo reports. “According to the law, they are ensured with protection and cannot refuse that,” Turcan said. According to him these come-ons do not mean exceeding one's powers or using them for personal interest. The opinion is shared by political analyst Viorel Cibotaru, a member of the Supervisory Board of Teleradio-Moldova public broadcaster. “One does not discuss such an issue as the security of the first dignitaries in the state,” he said. “It's clear that the ruling party is more inclined to use the administrative resources than the opposition is,” Cibotaru believes. He has added Teleradio-Moldova, and its Supervisory Board, decided to mirror the election “to inform the people.” “The fact that a top dignitary, who is not obliged to renounce its powers in the electoral race, appears on the TV does not mean he is electioneering,” he said. CEC member Valentin Vizant has said “each electoral competitor has a right to opinion, but the media should decide which statements of the competitors are worth airing and which are not.” Vizant says in case “when the state authorities announce the opening of some social-related entity, for instance, during the campaign, it cannot be viewed as electioneering and image improvement,” since it;s in the interest of everybody. Referring to the issue about opening additional polling stations abroad, the attendees in the round table said “some try to turn this subject into a show.” They share the idea that the opposition parties accusing the ruling party of intentionally refusing to open more polling stations abroad is but speculations. The right of the citizens abroad is not breeched since the state tells them when and where they can go and vote, said Viorel Cibotaru. Several opposition parties stated their concerns that president Vladimir Voronin and prime-minister Zinaida Greceanai are not obliged to suspend their powers during the election race, since they are running. Opposition parties, and independent analysts, say the other competitors are put in unfair conditions, also because the top dignitaries use the public media to promote their and their party's image.