Any procedures for investigating particular illegalities, offenses in particular, lasts and a reasonable period of time should be allotted. In a campaign, it is hard to ensure this reasonable timeframe, Pavel Postica, program director of Promo-LEX Association, stated in a public debate titled “Does legal framework guarantee free and fair elections? Who guarantees correct implementation of legal framework?” that was staged by IPN.
Making reference to frauds reported during the pre-registration of Moldovans in the diaspora for the November 1 presidential elections, Pavel Postica said the Prosecutor General’s Office should at least have come with a public reaction, as it is directly involved in this case and was notified of those violations, so as to calm the indignant voters down.
The police, even if they have the right to start this procedure, should have asked for the confirmation of the PGO. “This is a unique case. In many cases, our law enforcement authorities prefer to hide behind the legal provisions, like the secrecy of the inquiry, so as not to provide information,” stated the expert.
On the other hand, Pavel Postica said it also happens differently, when the secrecy of the investigation, the private life or the secrecy of private life are violated as to reveal information that is often favorable to the government. Effort should be made to prevent possible frauds.
The expert noted that the CEC can request the state institutions to obey the law and not to allow frauds. It demanded that the local public authorities should establish polling stations for the voters from the Transnistrian region and can also demand that the police, the State Tax Service and other authorities should examine the cases of illegal transportation of voters.
Each citizen can contribute to the quality, freedom and correctness of the electoral process by different methods, including by going to vote. “The larger is the voter turnout, the smaller will be the possibility of rigging the elections,” concluded the expert.
The public debate “Does legal framework guarantee free and fair elections? Who guarantees correct implementation of legal framework?” was the 155th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
