Group of MEPs Claimed Socialists Are Undermining Elections in Moldova. What Was PSRM’s Response?

Home / News / Group of MEPs Claimed Socialists Are Undermining Elections in Moldova. What Was PSRM’s Response?
The Party of Socialists (PSRM) called unfounded the accusations of MEPs Siegfried Muresan, Andrius Kubilius and Andrzej Halicki, who were indignant at the restrictions imposed in Moldova on the financing of presidential candidates by parties. MEPs said that this “undermines the integrity of the electoral process” in Moldova. “We are closely following how the PSRM’s recent changes undermine the integrity of the electoral process ahead of the presidential elections on 1 November 2020 and this is of great concern for us. President Dodon’s party has no shame nor scruples in bending and adapting any electoral rule only to serve another win to its candidate,” reads the press release of the European People’s Party published on September 22. The MEPs consider the restrictions imposed in Moldova on the financing of presidential candidates by parties to be inadmissible. “It is unacceptable that the CEC, just a few weeks before the elections, is trying to change the campaign financing rules by banning the use of financial donations to political parties by the candidates of the same parties. This not only poses a significant danger to have free and fair competition between candidates, but also considerably undermines the chance for all candidates to conduct a free and fair campaign,” the MEPs believe. The MPs are also concerned about reports that the majority of the collected signatures of Moldovan citizens living in Russia and planning to vote in the presidential elections are fake and are needed to open more polling stations in Russia. “The CEC must abide by the rules and ensure for all candidates, not just for the governing elite, a free and fair election campaign. In cooperation with all international bodies, OSCE, Council of Europe and the European Union, we will closely monitor the integrity of the electoral campaign in Moldova. Any manipulation or deviation from democratic standards will result in a strong condemnation and a revision of the EU-Moldova relations,” the MPs said in a statement. The Party of Socialists of Moldova called the accusations “absolutely groundless” and suggested that the MEPs were “misinformed by certain political forces from Chisinau.” The party said that they do not understand what “recent electoral changes adopted by the PSRM” the parliamentarians were talking about. “This year, the Moldovan parliament did not make changes to the Electoral Code so that they could be applied during the November presidential elections. In August, the draft technical amendments to the Electoral Code proposed by the CEC was adopted only in the first reading. PSRM takes into account the recent Venice Commission recommendations not to amend the electoral legislation ahead of the presidential elections,” the party explained. In addition, the PSRM said that the changes related to the reduction in the funding of candidates were adopted in the summer of 2019 together with the deputies from the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) and Platform Dignity and Truth (DA). “The legislation clearly states that no electoral competitor can receive money from the state budget, except in the form of a loan. Under these conditions, the parties, which are financed by the state, cannot transfer money to the candidate’s electoral fund,” the PSRM said. The socialists called on all those interested in the electoral process in Moldova “to closely monitor what is happening in our country”.