Ciocoi: 80 Million Lei Is Enough to Arrange Early Elections

Acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi said that arranging early elections could cost 80 million lei. In turn, the Central Election Commission Dorin Cimil noted that the previously announced amount of 125 million lei can be reduced "if we decide to reduce the number of polling stations abroad." The statements were aired on the Cabinetul din Umbra show on Jurnal TV, zdg.md reports. “The amount of 125 million lei can be reduced if we decide to reduce the number of officials trained for each polling station, if we decide to reduce the number of polling stations abroad,” said the head of the CEC. “The CEC's assessment is slightly exaggerated. A parliamentary campaign can really cost 80 million lei. Out of 125 million lei, 72 million are the salaries of CEC members, members of electoral bureaus,” Ciocoi said. Acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi said that on Friday, April 30, two hours before the meeting of the Central Election Commission (CEC), he met with CEC Chairman Dorin Cimil and CEC Secretary Maxim Lebedinsky. “During this meeting, we agreed with Mr. Cimil to open the CEC to approve the cost estimate, to give us some time for potential sources of funding, so we can see how much we can spend and they should revise the cost estimate a bit.” towards cost reduction. I was very surprised when I learned in the evening that, contrary to the agreements, I had with the head and secretary of the CEC, they approved the cost estimate,” Ciocoi said. The interim prime minister claims that he is introducing the CEC to Dorin Cimil so that the government will transfer the first tranche to the CEC in the amount of not more than 60 million lei. “Mr. Cimil said that he wants to be sure that the government has asked for the full amount requested by the CEC or will not make transfers, so we asked the Ministry of Finance to determine if there is still a possibility of replenishing the Reserve Fund, but not in the sense of full coverage the assessment prepared by the CEC,” said Aureliu Ciocoi. Recall, on Friday, April 30, the Central Election Commission approved the cost estimate for the early parliamentary elections on July 11 - 125 million lei.