Dodon Told Foreign Ambassadors whom he would “Invite to the Dialogue” after the Elections

On February 12, during the meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Moldova, President Igor Dodon said that he appealed the CEC’s decision in court, which reminded the head of state of the need to be independent and apolitical, he told why Moldova may not recognize the elections, and promised that immediately after the elections he would invite to the dialogue “all leading political forces which stand for a free, independent, democratic, legal state”. During the meeting, the president called unacceptable attacks on various electoral competitors and the presidential administration, as well as attempts to draw him into election processes despite his own decision to refuse to participate in the election campaign. “I separately dwelt on the CEC’s request to the president to suspend meetings with Moldovans. This CEC decision has already been appealed to the court as unfounded, and I told the diplomats that I would continue to communicate with our fellow citizens, because they had a lot of socio-economic issues”, said Dodon. He invited ambassadors of foreign countries and international observers to meetings with Moldovan citizens and promised to broadcast the meetings online, so that both diplomats and any other citizens could be convinced that these conversations were not campaign rally”. According his post on Facebook he drew the diplomats’ attention to circumstances that could lead to non-recognition of elections. “It's about the widely discussed intention of the authorities to withdraw one of the leading competitors from the election race, which can lead to non-recognition of elections legitimate and free, as well as to general political destabilization of the situation in the country”, the president warned ambassadors. The head of state also spoke about the post-electoral scenarios in Moldova. “I informed foreign diplomats about my intention to invite all the leading political forces to the dialogue, who proclaim the development of the Republic of Moldova as a free, independent, democratic, legal state as their goal. I believe that within the framework of the proposed dialogue, it would be appropriate to hold the first meeting on February 21 or 22 or immediately after the elections”, the president shared his plans. Source: Newsmaker