The Promo-LEX Observation Mission (OM) presents the following specifications with reference to the unfounded allegations made by the Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM) on December 28, 2018 about the content of the activity methodology and the conclusions of the Mission set out in the Observation Report no. 1 on the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019.
Promo-LEX appreciates the DPM’s interest in the activity of the Observation Mission and implicitly in the findings of the Report no. 1 on the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019. Starting from the principle of good faith, the Promo-LEX Association qualifies the DPM’s position as an impulsive response that can be subsumed within the limits of freedom of opinion and expression. All together, we believe that this reaction has nothing to do with and is not, in any way, intended to intimidate the observers. It is from these considerations that we qualify as totally inappropriate the insinuation that the information in the report is an “array of personal thoughts of a group of observers, probably expressed based on their own political preferences”.
We are convinced that only through joint efforts of all stakeholders involved in the electoral process and based on the principle of the rule of law, consistency, good faith, transparency and objectivity, the quality and authenticity of all electoral procedures and stages can be improved.
We would like to reiterate that the principle of the rule of law is strictly respected by the Observation Mission. The findings and the critiques of the gaps in the legal framework, including of the implementation of the mixed electoral system, of the organization of the referendum on the same day with the parliamentary elections, mentioned in the Report, did not prevent us from welcoming and highlighting the changes to the normative framework. We have also pointed out that some of the changes were previously reported in the Promo-LEX public documents. However, we believe that a distinction should be made between the critical analysis of some legal provisions that we consider inappropriate or unjustified and the violation of the law, and undoubtedly, Promo-LEX cannot be blamed of the latter.
It should be pointed out that Election Observation Reports aim at informing the public, in an impartial and equidistant manner, about the observers’ findings with regard to the performance of all the actors involved in the electoral process, regardless of their own position and views. In this regard, Promo-LEX reiterates that the Mission’s activity is based on a Methodology developed on the basis of international standards in the field, which has been applied uniformly for observing the elections in Moldova since 2009. The mechanisms and methodological tools are applied uniformly to all actors in the electoral process, including those pursuing political purposes and scoring electoral points by any means.
We also emphasize that the Promo-LEX Observation Mission is not a political opponent of the competitors involved in the electoral process, it is not an investigative body and does not assume the express obligation to prove the observed findings. However, observers’ reports are, as far as possible, accompanied by official information and other evidence, including photo and video recordings, which may only be made available to law enforcement authorities on the basis of appropriate requests and, in no case, shall it be provided to electoral competitors.
In the case of the Promo-LEX OM Report, referred to in the press release of the Democratic Party of Moldova, we would like to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that the findings referring to the performance of this party are accompanied by footnotes that direct the reader to official information and other evidence, which inexplicably was ignored by the DPM. We tend to believe that such ignorance is not intentional and is just a careless omission. Moreover, we remind the reader that Promo-LEX also manages the www.monitor.md web platform, to which any citizen can report activities with electoral overtones, the relevant information from observers’ reports being stored on the same platform and is public. We reiterate that the information communicated by citizens is also checked by Promo-LEX observers.
With regard to the DPM’s willingness to hold open and transparent talks, we remind the reader that Promo-LEX periodically, over the past 10 years, has carried out public round tables and off-line presentations, including of the methodological aspects of OM’s activity. All stakeholders, including political parties, are invited to these events for information and, when necessary, to receive and provide comments and recommendations. The last offline presentation of the observation methodology applied by Promo-LEX in election monitoring was organized on the eve of the presidential elections of 2016, with active participation of the DPM representatives. Over the years, both the findings and the recommendations of the Association, which were included in our Monitoring Reports each time based on the same methodology, were taken into account by state institutions and appreciated by the representatives of the DPM. Hopefully, the respect and confidence in Promo-LEX Observation Mission products will be maintained. The methodological instruments used by the Promo-LEX Observation Mission are described in the introductory section of the Reports, and our work remains fair and equidistant to all actors in the electoral process.
However, we must recognize that the observation methodology has been developed with regard to the issues of electoral rolls and electoral litigation, aspects which do not necessarily concern political competitors. In this context, we are ready to organize public and informal events, where we will reiterate the basic methodological aspects and will bring to light the new methodological aspects related to the monitoring of electoral rolls and litigation.
We assure all stakeholders involved in the electoral process, including the DPM, that Promo-LEX will continue to work in the same apolitical, consistent, equidistant and impartial manner to carry out an equally professional observation, being convinced that the presence and activity of a Mission of to ensure the final recognition of its results.
For further information, please contact:
Inga Stegarescu, Promo-LEX Association Press Officer;
GSM: 069 26 96 84;
E-mail: [email protected]