The National Anticorruption Center and the National Investigation Inspectorate are conducting searches related to alleged acts of electoral corruption by the staff of a candidate competing in the upcoming Gagauz gubernatorial runoff. This was confirmed for IPN by Angela Starinschi, spokesperson for the National Anticorruption Center.

Details will be offered once the investigative operation is completed, promised Starinschi.

The Shor Party issued a press release in reaction, revealing that the targeted candidate was its very own Yevgeniya Gutsul. The party denounced the searches as “an attempt to put pressure on the only candidate who really represents the interests of the citizens of Gagauzia and is not controlled by the criminal regime in Chisinau”.

“The Shor Party condemns the crimes, the illegal persecution and the brutality with which (President) Maia Sandu intrudes on the elections in Gagauzia. We have acted strictly according to the electoral rules of Gagauzia and the Republic of Moldova and we will defend the citizens’ right to free choice by all legal means. For this, a massive support of the citizens is needed, who must defend their right to vote and the opportunity to live in a Gagauzia of their dreams. Together we win!”, it declared.

Last Sunday, the National Anticorruption Center said it had evidence that Gutsul’s staff was engaged in vote buying, in transporting voters to polling places, and in taking illegal funding from a criminal group.

In the May 14 runoff, the post of Gagauzia’s governor, or başkan, will be contested between the Shor Party’s Gutsul and Grigori Uzun, supported by the Socialist Party.