The election observation mission of Promo-LEX continued to identify cases of abusive use of the administrative resource. In the report for November 8-16, at least 19 such cases were stipulated and these involved also the President, the Prime Minister and other public functionaries. The experts of Promo-LEX warn that by abusively using the administrative resource, equal conditions are not ensured for all elections contenders. According to them, public functionaries must be banned from campaigning while in office, IPN reports.
The head of Promo-LEX’s election observation mission Nicolae Panfil told a news conference that the administrative resource continued to be abusively used before the runoffs. “It is important to maintain a separation between the State and political parties. In particular, the political parties should not be merged with the State. We will also remind that by abusively using the administrative resource, equal conditions for all election contenders are not ensured. The observation mission of Promo-LEX ascertained 19 cases that can be classed as abusive use of the administrative resource in the period,” stated Nicolae Panfil.
In three cases, it goes to the involvement of the head of state. On November 12 and 14, President Maia Sandu had meetings with citizens in Ungheni, Călărași and in Trușeni commune of the municipality of Chisinau. “We determined that in these localities or districts, the PAS continues having a significant number of candidates who will contend in the runoff vote. According to public repots, in the meetings it was underlined the necessity of building European villages and towns. It was noted the development of localities through the agency of the European Village program. These messages were abundantly used by the PAS, including during the first round of voting,” said the mission’s head. Nicolae Panfil noted that such situations should be avoided as the candidate who was elected as President earlier presented confirmation of the fact that she is no longer a party member to the Constitutional Court.
The report also shows that at least nine cases of participation by Prime Minister Dorin Recean in electoral meetings in support of PAS candidates were recorded during November 8-16. The Premier also promoted PAS candidates at electoral meetings in localities of Ungheni, Cantemir, Nisporeni, Șoldănești, and Florești districts. Also, Dorin Recean appears as Prime Minister in five electoral advertisements to promote PAS candidates. In the period, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spînu campaigned for the PAS in at least two electoral meetings in localities in Rezina and Criuleni districts.
According to Promo-LEX, the involvement of the President and persons holding public posts in political campaigning affects the equality of chances of election contenders as the principle of a clear separation between the State and political parties is violated.
