Local Authorities Congress Reported Threatening and Pressure on Mayors

The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) expressed outrage since mayors are threatened and put pressure on during the election campaign. This stated the CALM appeal to the leadership of the Republic of Moldova, the Central Election Commission, the Council of Europe, the Prosecutor General's Office, electoral competitors, the media and civil society,  infotag.md reported. In its appeal, CALM notes that recently the organization has received complaints from representatives of local authorities from different regions in connection with unannounced inspections against them by order of some MPs and electoral competitors. Local authorities regard this as pressure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Anti-Corruption Center, the Financial Inspectorate and other state regulatory bodies "in order to influence their electoral preferences." The authors of the message note the selective nature of inspections and the involvement of state bodies in. "The current system of administrative and financial control of the state over local administrations and the activities of control bodies are outdated and constitute an attack on national security. Abuse and pressure from state law enforcement and control bodies seriously damage both local authorities and the entire state, harming its image. Due to anti-democratic and systematic omissions on the part of state institutions, instead of protecting public order and the law, they, in fact, have become a tool in the fight against inconvenient ones," CALM believes. In this regard, he demands that the President discuss this issue at the Supreme Security Council and give an appropriate assessment of the actions of law enforcement, investigative and regulatory bodies. "We insist on the immediate suspension of all inspections on their part, including those recently initiated at the direction of electoral competitors, until the end of the election campaign and / or the harmonization of the national legal framework with the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe," the appeal says. According to its authors, the Council of Europe and other development partners of the Republic of Moldova should monitor the situation in the area of local public administration and the authorities' compliance with their obligations.