Young people from 17 political parties of Moldova participate in national forum in electoral sector

Chisinau, 21 July /MOLDPRES/ - The second issue of the National Forum of Young People in Electoral Sector, an event organized by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Centre for Continuous Electoral Training (CICDE) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was held in Chisinau on 19-21 July. The forum brought together over 150 participants aged between 18 and 35 years, representatives of 17 youth organizations of the political parties from Moldova.    

The National Forum of Young People in Electoral Sector was set to familiarize the participants with the electoral processes and general local elections, due to take place in next autumn. The participants in this event also discussed the civic participation in the elections and the importance of the local authority’s mandate.    

„Young people represent one of the target groups of the Central Electoral Commission for carrying out activities of electoral informing and education. It is important that they get actively involved not only in elections, but also as candidates, electoral civil servants, observers, volunteers, etc.,’’ the deputy head of  CEC’s Communication, Public Relations and Media Department, Corneliu Pasat, said.

For her part, the deputy director of the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training, Angela Caraman, stressed that the National Forum of Young People in Electoral Sector was another activity having at its basis the training and simulation of electoral processes, which actually creates CICDE’s foundation. ‘’They say that people learn especially from their own experience. Therefore, we should provide young people with opportunities for these experiences, enhance their capacities of involvement in the civic or political activity,’’ Angela Caraman noted.   

„We are here to think about the way each of us can contribute to Moldova’s future through participation in the electoral process, which will thus become more reliable, more transparent and more inclusive,’’ a specialist in programmes, efficient governance at UNDP Moldova, Alla Skvorțova, said.   

The young people worked during three days in five different workshops, in order to organize a simulation of the election day as close to the reality as possible. The distribution in groups was aleatory, so that participants from various youth organizations are in each workshop. On the first day, the young people took knowledge of the groups they are members of and were initiated in what they are to do further. Those from the groups of electoral contenders set up political parties, elected the party’s leadership and prepared the acts for registration in the electoral race for the general local polls. The second day was dedicated to the preparation of the electoral campaign, of electoral slogans and platforms, as well simulated discussions. Today, elections are to be simulated, the first round and, depending on the results, the runoff.   

The National Forum of Young People in Electoral Sector is organized within the project, Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections, implemented by UNDP Moldova, with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development, Embassy of the United Kingdom in Chisinau through the Fund for Good Governance and of the Embassy of the Netherlands through Matra Programme.