The election campaign between the two rounds of the presidential elections was negative, with polarized media that diminished the quality of the information presented to the citizens. Even so, the voting process on November 15 ran normally despite crownless or lines, says the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions of the Limited Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR LEOM). The Head of the ODIHR LEOM Corien Jonker said an orderly transfer of power would help a lot Moldova to move on normally, IPN reports.
In the PSs visited by the ODIHR LEOM, voting was overall orderly and the environment in polling stations was calm, although voters often queued outside PSs. The results provided on time ensured greater transparency.
In a news conference, Corien Jonker said that one of the findings of the monitoring of the presidential runoff, until the election day, is that the voters generally had where to choose from. However, the incumbent President continued the rhetoric that polarized voters and he was given more positive coverage.
While the Audiovisual Council acted within the legal framework, its application of non-differentiated and late sanctions didn’t ensure an effective oversight of the campaign coverage.
Corien Jonker noted that the national legislation lacks clear rules concerning the runoff vote. Despite some of the recommendations, this is also valid for the campaign financing rules. The supervision of campaign financing is weak.
The Head of the ODIHR LEOM also said that the electoral contenders in general were able to campaign freely, but the campaign became more negative primarily before the day of runoff elections. There were negative messages against candidate Maia Sandu, including through leaflets and videos. Such rhetoric is unacceptable and does not have a place in an election campaign and not only.
ODIHR will issue a comprehensive final report in about two months.
