All those who do not obey the law should be tackled by ordinary ways so that there is the possibility of challenging, the Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova said in reaction to the Moldovan authorities’ decision to exclude all the candidates of the Chance Party from the electoral competition. According to Janis Mazeiks, predictable solutions should exist for such cases in the future so as not to resort to the decisions of the Commission for Exceptional Situations. In the same connection, the EU ambassador said the information provided by the authorities is not sufficient to assess the CES’s decision to suspend the broadcast licenses of six more TV channels, IPN reports.
On November 3, two days before the general local elections, the Commission for Exceptional Situations ordered to annul the registration of the election contenders fielded by the Chance Party. According to the authorities, the decision was taken because the Russian Federation finances the criminal group led by Ilan Shor for the purpose of compromising the election processes in Moldova. The Head of the EU Delegation said that similar situations could be witnessed at the next elections and the authorities should have predictable solutions accessible.
“The decision to eliminate all the candidates of a party two days before election day was something extraordinary. For us, it is important that these executive measures are taken with great care and the lessons should be learned. Let’s see if the current mechanism can be adjusted so that it is not necessary to resort to the powers of the Commission for Exceptional Situations as such problems can yet occur in the future. The CES, by definition, has exceptional powers, but it is important that more predictable solutions exist in the future, without involving a commission for exceptional situations. This would ensure that those who do not obey the democratic laws are tackled by ordinary ways, long before election day, so that there is the possibility of challenging,” Janis Mazeiks stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
The European diplomat noted that the authorities provided not enough information to explain the necessity of suspending the licenses of a number of TV channels. Such decisions should have been taken with the participation of the Audiovisual Council.
“When it went to the decision to withdraw the members of the Chance Party, the authorities published a 32-page report in which the SIS describes in detail what happened and why the decision was necessary. That’s why the people didn’t have questions about this. When it goes to the suspension of the license of the television channels, the information provided by the CES lacks details. So, we cannot assess the reasons. There should be a well-planned mechanism so that the Audiovisual Council plays an important role as they are those who monitor the media and the AC is an institution empowered to intervene in this regard,” explained the European official.
On October 30, the Commission for Exceptional Situations ordered to suspend the broadcast licenses of six TV channel, namely: Orizont TV, ITV, Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, and Canal 3.
