Moldovan electoral body declared new polls in Chisinau null

Chisinau, 29 June /MOLDPRES/ - The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has taken note of the irrevocable decision by the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and today declared null the new local polls for the office of Chisinau general mayor.   

The draft decision was presented by CEC head Alina Russu. Five members of the Commission voted for the approval of the document and two ones against. The ruling enters into force at the moment of its approval and is published in Moldova’s Official Journal (Monitorul Oficial).   

MPs, representatives of the EU Delegation in Moldova, political parties and NGOs attended the today’s meeting.

At the meeting, a CEC member, Sergiu Gurduza, proposed holding repeated new polls. According to him, “the elections should end with the election of a mayor.” The proposal was rejected by the Commission members.  

During the meeting, backers of Andrei Nastase protested outside the CEC building. The people who came to the protest shouted more slogans, among which “we want the mayor we have voted for” and “our vote has been stolen” and “we do not give in.”

In the beginning of this week, the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice maintained the decision by the Court of Appeal and declared the new local polls from the Moldovan capital as illegal and null. The main reason of declaring the elections invalid represented the lives made on a social network by the elected mayor, Andrei Nastase, on the election day, in which he urged the citizens to go to vote, which was described as electoral agitation.

The local polls took place in two rounds, on 20 May and 3 June. After the runoff, Andrei Nastase picked up 52.08 per cent of the Chisinau residents’ votes and his counter-candidate Ion Ceban got 47.43 per cent.  

Under the legislation in force, no local elections can be held this year. Thus, Chisinau will be led by an acting mayor. Presently, the deputy mayor, Ruslan Codreanu, is at the head of the city hall.  

The elections planned for the office of Chisinau mayor are to be held in the summer of 2019.  

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor L. Alcaza)