The delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that came to Moldova on a pre-electoral mission on 5-6 November to assess the election campaign and political climate prior to the parliamentary elections of November 30, 2014 noted that the election campaign is generally calm, but underlined that a number of interlocutors expressed the voters’ concern with regard unemployment, pensions, health care system and education, IPN reports.
According to a communiqué of the PACE, some interlocutors, including authorities’ representatives, informed the delegation about the lack of transparency of the sources of financing of political parties and the use of “dirty money” during the election campaign coming from abroad. The delegation was also informed of cases of misuse of administrative resources, vote buying and of limited cases of religious representatives becoming involved in the election campaign in support of certain political parties.
The delegation expressed its deep concern with regard to the significant campaign expenditure as well as the role played by businessmen and oligarchs in the political life of Moldova, especially in the electoral process. It also expressed its regret that the Parliament did not adopt the law on financing of political parties and elections campaigns.
Some of the pre-electoral delegation’s interlocutors pointed out the improvement of the media coverage by public broadcasters and pluralism of opinions in different media. Nevertheless, several issues of serious concern remain: the opacity of the sources of financing of some media outlets, whose holding companies are allegedly registered off-shore, a lack of transparency concerning their ownership, the control of media by a number of businessmen and oligarchs, and their close ties to political parties. The delegation noted the influence on the election campaign of media established abroad.
The delegation is concerned about unbalanced distribution of the 95 polling stations abroad and that the recent amendments to the election legislation increased the electoral threshold, contrary to the Venice Commission recommendations. The delegation calls upon the Moldovan voters to take an active part in these crucially important elections for the future of their country. The Assembly delegation invites the authorities to take quick and efficient measures to ensure the conditions are in place for all Moldovans to express their will freely during the campaign and on the election day.
In Chisinau, the delegation met the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, leaders of political parties participating in the elections, the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, the Chairman of the Audiovisual Coordinating Council, representatives of the international community, NGOs and the media.
A full 32-member delegation from the Assembly will return to the country to observe the elections.
