Constitutional Court annuls right of Comrat authorities to appoint heads of Interior, Intelligence and local electoral bodies

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova has declared unconstitutional several legal provisions concerning the approval of the composition of the electoral commission responsible for organizing elections in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. At the same time, the Court struck down provisions that allowed the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia to participate in the appointment and dismissal of the heads of the Directorate of Internal Affairs, the Directorate of Justice and the Directorate of the Intelligence and Security Service in Comrat.

The decision was issued today following the examination of a referral submitted by the Minister of Justice, Vladislav Cojuhari. At the same time, the Constitutional Court rejected a related referral filed by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, which challenged provisions of the Electoral Code regarding the appointment of the electoral body in the autonomy. As a result, the Gagauz autonomy will no longer have the right to establish its own electoral authority and to set special rules for organizing elections in the region.

President of the Constitutional Court Domnica Manole explained that the High Court emphasized that “in a unitary state there cannot be multiple centers of sovereign power, and the autonomy cannot hold its own powers that conflict with the powers of the central authorities.”

“The Court stressed that local autonomy must have limits, which are determined in particular by the principle of the unitary state. The unitary character of the state presupposes a single holder of sovereignty and a single system of central public authorities. In a unitary state there cannot be multiple centers of sovereign power. The autonomy cannot have its own competences that conflict with the competences of the central authorities. Article 111 of the Constitution does not create a second level of constituent power or an autonomous legal order, but allows the existence of territorial autonomy within the national constitutional order,” argued Domnica Manole.

At the same time, the President of the Constitutional Court said that “the High Court found that ensuring public order and state security does not fall within the scope of the powers of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, but represents fundamental functions of the state, exercised by the central public administration authorities or other national administrative authorities.”

Domnica Manole also provided clarifications regarding the competences of the local bodies of UTA Gagauzia in electoral matters.

“The competence of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia to approve the composition of the central electoral commission for organizing elections does not fall within the limits of the competences of local public administration, nor within those of a territorial autonomous unit with special status,” the President of the Constitutional Court underlined.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court is final, cannot be appealed by any means, enters into force on the date of its adoption and is to be published in the Official Journal.

At the beginning of June, the issue of organizing elections in Gagauzia was discussed during consultations held at the Presidency, with the participation of representatives of the central authorities, the Central Electoral Commission and the autonomy.

Following the discussions, the participants agreed on the need to harmonize the local electoral legislation with the provisions of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova, so that elections in the autonomy are organized in accordance with national standards on transparency, campaign financing and the functioning of electoral bodies.

According to the authorities in Chisinau, the draft law amending the legal framework was developed after several rounds of consultations with representatives of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, the Executive Committee and deputies from the autonomy. Despite the compromises identified during the negotiations, the process of adopting the new electoral rules remained blocked.