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Promo-LEX discussed the key findings of the Final Report of the Election Observation Mission for the presidential election in the Republic of Moldova on 30 October 2016 at a round table entitled X-Ray and Assessment of the Direct Presidential Election in the Republic of Moldova. Post-Election Conclusions. The event brought together the main stakeholders involved in the presidential election that took place in the autumn of 2016.

At the beginning of the event, Ion Manole, the Executive Director of Promo-LEX, announced that the goal of the exercise was to understand what elements of the election campaign were good or bad; what the role of political parties was; what the role of civil society was; which aspects were positive; and what actions should be taken to ensure a higher level of information and awareness, and, ultimately, informed votes by citizens. Ion Manole also conveyed that local and regional stakeholders would be involved, through Promo-LEX’s regional offices, in discussions and activities developed by civil society in the period between elections, so that they are not active only during election campaigns.

Alina Russu, the President of the CEC (who was present at the debate) highlighted the importance of civil society in monitoring electoral stakeholders, saying that civil society is one of the key actors that influences the content of public debates about both internal and external politics in a country, and that the CEC was no exception to that. In addition, the monitoring of elections serves to raise the integrity of and public confidence in the electoral process. She noted that civil society influences the current activity of the CEC and certainly affects the decisions that are made, and that the problems in electoral and related legislation and in electoral procedures that were described in the Final Report of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission would be thoroughly examined.

The journalist Vasile Botnaru declared that it is of great value to realize how we have acted in the precise moment after the president has been elected by direct vote, because such a moment is important and instructive for society. Vasile Botnaru said that if we draw a parallel between vaccination, which is the deliberate introduction of a small dose that mobilizes an organism’s defenses, and what is happening now between the presidency, the legislature, and the executive, than we see that we are in the stage of that process when a weak organism has received a dose of “scarlet fever” vaccine and is looking for antibodies. To conclude, he mentioned that if the organism knows how to overcome this stage, we will probably be able to say that we are on the right path to democracy.

In his general initial findings, Igor Bucataru, the Head of the Analysis Team of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission, stated that we had a competitive general election; 12 candidates, who represented the entire range of political opinions in Moldova, were registered. Igor Bucataru also mentioned that, in the opinion of Promo-LEX, the election was partially free in two senses of the word: the casting of votes and the ability to form an opinion on the progress of the election. The Head of the Promo-LEX Analysis Team mentioned restrictions on the freedom of voters abroad in casting their ballots and limits on the ability of voters to form their own opinions because of black PR and the manipulation of public opinion during the election campaign, as well as vote buying and the use of administrative resources, all of which were phenomena that damaged the concept of free elections.

The results of the financial monitoring of election candidates during the election campaign were presented by Cornelia Călin, a financial analyst at Promo-LEX. She spoke about the implementation of the most recent election campaigns, which proved that the lack of legal provisions and rigorous mechanisms regulating election campaign financing can vitiate election processes. Cornelia Călin also pointed out that the non-transparent use of resources in election campaigns continues to generate inequality, unfairness, electoral corruption, abuse of administrative resources, and tax evasion. On the other hand, she noted that monitoring of the use of funds in recent election campaigns has managed to draw the attention of key stakeholders, including election candidates, political parties, and the Central Electoral Commission, to the need to regulate and improve the legal framework.

The recommendations from the Final Report of the Observation Mission were presented by Pavel Postica, Head of the Promo-LEX Observation Mission. They can be found in the report published on the Promo-LEX website.

An electronic version of the Report is available in Romanian, English and Russian here.

The Observation Mission for the Presidential Election in the Republic of Moldova on 30 October 2016 is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the British Embassy in Chisinau, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Council of Europe. The opinions expressed in the public reports of Promo-LEX belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the donors’ views.

For more details, contact: Tatiana Pascovschi, Communication Officer for the Promo-LEX Election Observation Mission: GSM 060804022, e-mail: [email protected]