Moldovan PM thanks all civil servants for fair holding of 20 October elections

Chisinau, 23 October /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Maia Sandu, in the beginning of a today’s cabinet meeting, offered a message of thanks for the work of tens of thousands of people, involved in the organization of the local elections in Moldova on 20 October 2019. The PM stressed that the polls represent an important democratic exercise for the current government, as it involves members of the electoral commissions, national and international observers, policemen and many other state’s employees, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.    

„It is quite important for this cabinet to ensure conditions for free and fair elections, especially after the previous governance had managed to discredit the elections in Moldova internationally. Therefore, just as I informed before the first round of the ballot, I reiterate that we will not tolerate the involvement of civil servants in the electoral campaign during working time and we will sanction the use of administrative resources on political purposes,” the prime minister said.   

According to the information reported by a state secretary at the Interior Ministry (MAI), Ianus Erhan, at the cabinet meeting, on the day of the polls, more than 4,500 MAI employees were involved in ensuring the correctness of the ballot. At the same time, 112 infringements of the electoral legislation were reported and another three criminal files were registered, dealing with voters’ threatening and corrupting. “I want to note that we have recorded less infringements than at the previous polls, when 270 infringements were found out at the parliamentary elections from February 2019; now, there are less infringements, just as you see, 115 in all. We prepare for the runoff, when elections are to be held in 382 settlements, in order to ensure the lawfulness of the electoral process,” Ianus Erhan said.     

Another important subject tackled by the prime minister at the cabinet meeting is focused on the issue of food safety. At the meeting, Maia Sandu asked to be reported details about a case of vegetables with inadmissible content of metals, which were confiscated by the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) and were not supplied to consumers. At the same time, the PM addressed to the producers who must observe the norms concerning the products’ quality, as well as to the employees of the institutions which are directly in charge of such cases. “We, in our capacity of state’s institutions competent with citizens’ health, with food safety, will do everything the legal framework allows us to protect the citizens. I ask the state’s institutions, especially ANSA, to show maximum of vigilance, in order not to allow other similar cases,” Maia Sandu stressed.    

The head of the prime minister’s Control Corps, Igor Talmazan, came up with details on this case, after the prime minister had instructed the checking of products’ quality and counteracting the illicit irrigation with polluted water from the Bic river. “More contravention official reports have been compiled against each economic agent or private person who committed infringements. According to the findings of ANSA’s laboratory, decision-makers found out that more products do not meet the norms in force and have extra contents of hard metals. It is about lead, which exceeded the indexes about 4-fold, which is quite dangerous for citizens’ health. Thus, the destruction of the batches of goods was instructed. At the same time, in the process of work, decision-makers identified a case in which the environment authorization on the water use was issued. Following examination, they ruled to start the documentation, in order to identify the lawfulness of the authorization. We will undertake all measures, in order not to allow the goods to harm citizens’ health,” Talmazan noted.

Another novelty announced by the PM in the beginning of the cabinet meeting, regards the carrying out of the annual planting campaign, A tree for our endurance, due to start on 26 October. “I want to encourage all employees of the public and private institutions to participate in these activities. The cabinet of ministers is also expected to go and give a helping hand. I want to reiterate that the increase in the areas planted with forests is a priority of this government. In this respect, we must make sure that all projects initiated with foreign assistance are carried out without procrastinations and to insist to identify additional sources to fulfill this priority,” PM Maia Sandu added.