The Promo-LEX Association presented today its Fourth Monitoring Report for the Parliamentary Elections on 30 November. “The civil society was right to insist on the need to change the rules of campaign funding. Concealing candidates’ revenues and expenses is the most serious deficiency of the current campaign for the Parliamentary Elections on 230 November 2014,” said Pavel Postica, the team leader of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort.
During the period covered by the report, the monitoring found that 1,177 citizens contributed a total of 57,674,934 Moldovan lei to electoral funds, which amounts to 53.34% of the funding ceiling established by the CEC.
- Twenty one candidates reported their election revenues and expenses to the CEC;
- Eight candidates received warnings from the CEC for procedural violations of submitting financial reports;
- 96.62% of electoral expenses went into advertising;
- Only three out of 26 candidates reported expenses for staff salaries, maintenance of permanent offices, and communication services;
- None of the candidates reported expenses for remuneration, per diem and travel allowances, and consultancy;
- For the first time in the history of the Republic of Moldova, the Chisinau Court of Appeals admitted and upheld a CEC decision to cancel the registration of an electoral candidate, namely Political Party “Patria” [Homeland], on grounds of campaign funding in violation of electoral legislation provisions.
During the monitoring period, the CEC analyzed and presented its conclusions on 14 contestations submitted by candidates in the poll, and two applications submitted by the police. The contestations referred to violations on the rules of using administrative resources, failure to relief from public office, unauthorized posting of campaign materials, use of election materials without proper markings.
In this context, Promo-LEX observers have found at least 23 instances that were assessed as use of administrative resources: 2 cases of use of public premises in favor of a candidate, 16 cases when service transportation was used for campaign purposes, and 5 cases of use of public office.
As the campaign approaches its end, observers note the involvement of church in the campaign. One candidate used religious icons as campaigning materials; another candidate used the image of Orthodox Church in their party leaflets. In the village Stația Rediul-Mare, the local priest was found collecting signatures in favor of a candidate.
“The findings of the Monitoring Effort regarding the dynamic campaigning conducted by the candidates, the efforts of the central and local governments to ensure people’s access to vote, especially for voters abroad and those with impaired vision, the high interest of national and international observers for the poll, etc. – all these positive aspects are unfortunately overshadowed by the many negative situations documented by Promo-LEX observers,” said Corneliu Cirimpei, senior analyst of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort.
The electronic version of the Report here.
The Election Monitoring Effort is part of the activities conducted by the civil society under the aegis of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.
The Monitoring Effort for the Parliamentary Election on 30 November 2014 has received technical assistance from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Council of Europe, and the Stefan Batory Foundation from the funds provided by the Solidarity Fund as part of the “Support for Democracy” Programme of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For additional information, please contact: Galina Sanduta, Press Officer of the Promo-LEX Election Monitoring Effort, GSM: 069 95 82 89, E-mail: [email protected].