The Moldovan authorities forget about the reports compiled by local and international organizations as a result of elections. They also forgot about the six recommendations issued by the Constitutional Court on December 13, 2016, after the presidential election, executive director of the Institute for Strategic Policies and Initiatives Vadim Pistrinciuc said in a public debate titled “Why wasn’t the Constitutional Court heard in the problem of presidential elections?”, which was staged by IPN News Agency IPN.

In the Republic of Moldova, the rigging practices and practices of engaging religious denominations in electoral processes are perpetuated because there are no penalty mechanisms besides public reprimand. There should be legal mechanisms that will clearly say that this cannot be done and will specify penalties in the form of fines or in other forms.

Vadim Pistrinciuc, executive director of the Institute for Strategic Policies and Initiatives, said that regardless of the pandemic situation or the socioeconomic situation, the political players, in particular those who are in power, think about elections. The lawmakers should institute legal mechanisms if they want to show that they really care about electoral democracy,” he stated.

The former MP noted that one of the recommendations addressed to Parliament says prompt and immediate punishment mechanisms are needed, including criminal penalties, for any attempt to engage religious denominations in election campaigns.

“The recommendation concerning the involvement of religious denomination is very important as we see that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, church officials come with contradictory messages or defy the norms imposed by the Commission for Exceptional Situations. There are also politicians who not only flirt with the church, but also often use the church for electoral purposes. A line should be drawn so as to show what can be done and what cannot be done and to clearly define the penalties,” stated Vadim Pistrinciuc.

As to the CC’s recommendation to suspend the right to broadcast for the period of the election camping if the media outlets violate the impartiality principles during the electoral period, the director of the Institute for Strategic Policies and Initiatives said there should be a clear penalty mechanism and a mechanism for immediately implementing those recommendations. Society should exert increased pressure over this.

The debate “Why wasn’t the Constitutional Court heard in the problem of presidential elections?” was the 132nd installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture through public debates” that are supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.