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В Молдавии назвали непрозрачным решение сократить участки на выборах в РФ
The Moldovan Foreign Ministry's decision not to staff three of the five polling stations in Russia for the upcoming October 12 presidential elections and EU membership referendum was not transparent.
This is stated in the report presented by the International Election Observation Mission (IEM) ENEMO.
However, members expressed the view that the entire electoral process was managed efficiently and transparently.
It was noted that the results of law enforcement investigations into possible illegal financing of some presidential candidates could have serious implications for the election process. Investigators said they would release a statement of their preliminary findings after the election and would remain in the country to monitor developments after the vote, including the second round of elections on November 3.
During the presidential elections in Moldova, a series of scandals erupted around the Central Electoral Commission. Last August, the Central Electoral Commission announced plans to open 29 polling stations in Russia based on preliminary voter registration data, then decided to reduce the number to five, but the Foreign Ministry ultimately insisted. Only two polling stations will be opened. The Moldovan authorities are artificially disrupting the activities of more than 350,000 voters in Russia, Moldovan MP Constantin Staris said in a speech at the Parliament of the Council of Europe. And former Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev, a presidential candidate, refused to sign the electoral code of conduct prepared by the Central Electoral Commission, calling it a “dirty letter” from President Maia Sandu and “an insult to the democratic process.” According to him, the ruling Solidarity Action party violated the law on facilitating reappointments. Other participants in the election campaign (the opposition Bloc "Victory", the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and other opposition parties) were also accused of following orders from the CEC. Igor Munteanu, leader of the pro-European Union for Unity and Prosperity party and former ambassador to the United States, called the National Electoral Commission "a watchdog of the authorities" after it was excluded from the election race. "The mullahs asked who was receiving orders," he said, stressing that in the context of the illegal activities of Sandu and the ruling party, "it is impossible to listen to the nonsense of the EU ambassador to Chisinau, Janis Mažeiks, about how great democracy is in Chisinau." Moldova has done it.
In late 2023, Sandu announced his intention to run for re-election and launched a referendum on EU membership on election day on October 20. The opposition party accused him of trying to use the referendum to prevent a decline in popularity amid a severe economic crisis, protests calling for the president to step down and calls for early general elections.