Moldovan parliament speaker says each day of delay of elections in Gagauzia works against autonomy

Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu has criticized the deadlock in organizing elections for the Popular Assembly (local parliament) of Gagauzia, accusing socialist deputies from the autonomy of boycotting the meeting at which solutions previously agreed with the central authorities were to be discussed and approved.

According to Grosu, after more rounds of talks held in Chisinau, solutions were identified regarding the specific features of organizing the election, but the process was blocked at the last moment.

“Just a week ago, I answered the same question and said that we had found rational people, very good interlocutors, with whom we agreed on how the elections should be organized. In the meantime, something happened there and I understood that some of the deputies boycotted the meeting,” said the parliament speaker.

He noted that the boycott had been organized mainly by socialist deputies of the Popular Assembly.

“As far as I understood, about 13–15 socialist deputies did not participate. If the proposed solutions are not good, then come and propose others that can be discussed. But to sit during the meeting in a nearby place and drink coffee is not mature political behavior,” Grosu said.

The speaker pointed out that the deadlock had been created by some politicians from the autonomy itself, who later refused to participate in the meetings convened to overcome the crisis.

In the context of the resignation of the acting president of the Popular Assembly, Igor Grosu said that the regional authorities must elect a new acting leader and resume the decision-making process.

“Each day of delay works against Gagauzia and, obviously, against the political situation in Moldova,” Grosu underlined.

The parliament speaker rejected the idea that the solution might come from outside and accused the Russian Federation of seeking to destabilize the situation in the region.

“Moscow will not unblock the situation in Gagauzia. Moscow will only make it worse, because its interest is destabilization, not stabilization,” Grosu declared.

According to him, the rules proposed for holding the elections are the same as those applied throughout the territory of Moldova and concern the vetting of members of electoral bodies, transparency of campaign financing and the accuracy of electoral lists.

At the same time, Grosu specified that all specific features of the region had been preserved, including the minimum age of 21 for candidates, the single-member system and the election of deputies in constituencies.

“All specific features of the region stay in force. Beyond that, what is needed is only political will,” the parliament speaker said.

In conclusion, Igor Grosu announced that he would hold discussions both with his colleagues in parliament and with representatives from the Gagauz Territorial Administrative Unit, urging them to prove responsibility and political maturity, in order to overcome the stalemate.