PSL will demand that first round of voting be re-held in Chisinau

The Social Liberal Party (PSL) traced a number of violations in the course of elections held in the municipality of Chisinau and will request that the first round of voting be held again, PSL leader Oleg Serebrian said on Tuesday, June 5. The leader of the party said that other parties will join the request, as there are sufficient reasons for having this petition satisfied. PSL and the Social Democracy Part have already lodged with the Central Election Commission requests for a recount of ballots. Among the infringements and suspicions of electoral frauds, Serebrian mentioned the difference between the votes received in different polling stations. While in some polling places PSL received up to 300 votes, in others the party got no vote, especially in the polling stations nearby the hostels of the State University, where the most of PSL activists cast their votes. In addition, Serebrian mentioned cases where observers were prohibited from watching closely the ballot count, and cases of voter rolls listing deceased persons. In his words, the large number of invalidated ballots (circa 8 thousand) arouses concern. Igor Klipii, the head of the PSL electoral staff, said that this campaign was more difficult because of pressures and shortcomings recorded, than those in 2003 and 2005. Klipii mentioned cases of pressure on PSL candidates and attempts to push them out of the race, the interference of state institutions in the campaign, mass-media coverage favouring the ruling party etc. When asked how PSL will act in the second round, Serebrian said that anyplace where a communist candidate will run in the second round PSL will support his rival, especially in Chisinau. The PSL leader also underlined that the party will not form coalitions with the communists in the district councils either. On the other hand, Serebrian reiterated the party’s intention to set up a coalition with all the liberal parties in Moldova, especially after these elections, which proved that the total number of votes collected by those three liberal parties was only surpassed by the percentage polled by the ruling party.