Moldovan parliament speaker accuses Gagauzia's leaders of delaying elections: “This is obstructionist behavior. The law is not negotiable”

Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu rejects accusations that the central authorities are blocking the organization of elections in Gagauzia and claims that the current deadlock is caused by the lack of willingness of certain political actors in the autonomous region to comply with the national legislation.

Asked about the impasse in the talks on holding local elections in the autonomy, the speaker described as “false” the statements that Chisinau is responsible for the situation.

“It is false. We have sat down and worked through all subjects that were raised. The members of the electoral commissions, in charge of organizing the electoral process, must undergo checks, just like all other electoral officials. There are no exceptions for anyone. From the south, from the north, east or west,” Grosu said.

According to him, the rules on the transparency of electoral campaigns’ financing, the vetting of those who organize the electoral process and the accuracy of voters’ lists must be the same throughout the entire territory of Moldova.

“Aside from that, there are certain particularities that we understand and accept, such as the single-member district system or the age threshold. But the basic rules must be common for the whole country,” the parliament speaker underlined.

The official believes that the current situation is affecting the very functioning of the autonomy and its image.

“What I see is, I am sorry to say, obstructionist and delaying behavior. All they are doing is making things worse for the Gagauzia Territorial-Administrative Unit. Everyone is watching and does not understand where they want to go and what the outcome will be,” Grosu stated.

He said that the authorities of the autonomy must assume responsibility for unblocking the process and electing representative institutions.

“The autonomy must have its own legitimate elected officials, with a full mandate. If they continue in the same manner, without making decisions, they will get nowhere. The law must be respected. The law is not negotiable,” the parliament speaker stressed.

The statements come in the context that the Gagauzia Executive Committee has rejected the draft decision of the People’s Assembly on organizing elections in the autonomy. Representatives of the local executive argue that the document does not eliminate discrepancies between national and local legislation and contains provisions open to legal interpretation.

At the same time, the head of the State Chancellery Office in Gagauzia, Serghei Cernev, has recently said that the delaying of the electoral process aimed to maintain control over regional electoral institutions. According to him, the group affiliated with fugitive politician Ilan Shor is allegedly trying to influence the formation of the future electoral body of the autonomy, in order to control the organization of elections in the region in the long term.

Despite the disagreements, Igor Grosu says that solutions to overcome the deadlock do exist and will be identified in dialogue with representatives of the autonomy, but within the limits of the current legislation.

“The authorities will have to find a solution and we will find one. Obviously, we will consult the representatives of the autonomy, but the rule is the rule for everyone,” the parliament speaker concluded.

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 local electoral legislation with the provisions of Moldova’s Electoral Code, so that elections in the autonomy are organized in accordance with national standards on transparency, campaign’s financing and the working of electoral bodies.

According to the Moldovan authorities, the draft amendments to the legal framework were drawn up after more rounds of consultations with representatives of the Gagauzia People’s Assembly, the Executive Committee, and deputies from the autonomy. Despite the compromises identified during the negotiations, the process of adopting the new electoral rules stays blocked.

The Presidency has previously underlined that the purpose of the consultations was to identify a solution that would allow elections in Gagauzia to be held under conditions of legality and predictability, without affecting the special status of the autonomy and while respecting the national legislation.