Chamber of Regions

29th SESSION

Strasbourg, 20-22 October 2015

CPR/2015(29)3

28 September 2015

Information Note on the elections of the Governor (Bashkan) and partial elections in the People’s Assembly of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, Republic of Moldova (22 March 2015)[1]

Summary

Following the invitation of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, a ten-member Congress delegation carried out an electoral assessment mission with regard to the elections for the Governor and partial election in the People’s Assembly of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia on 22 March 2015.

On Election Day, which was held in an overall calm and orderly manner, five Congress’ teams visited practically all the 65 polling stations in the three electoral districts.

The Congress’ observers identified three main issues in the area of electoral law and management. First, there is some inconsistency between the Republic of Moldova and the Gagauz region with regard to legal provisions. Second, the considerably high number of voters on supplementary lists throughout the region is a major concern, mainly due to erroneous or not sufficiently up-dated voters' lists which were collected by the local authorities. Third, the question of campaign financing of different candidates raised concerns among the members of the Congress’ assessment mission. In conclusion, the Congress underlines that some concerns related to voting procedures are recurrent, such as family voting, the non-folding of ballot papers and vote-buying, which are threatening the secrecy of the vote and undermine the confidence in the outcome of the elections.

Introduction

On 10 February 2015, the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova Dr. Iurie CIOCAN invited the Congress to observe the elections for the Governor (Bashkan) and partial elections in the Popular Assembly of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. Following this invitation, Congress President Jean-Claude FRECON – in co-ordination with the President of the Local Chamber, Anders KNAPE, and the President of the Chamber of Regions, Gudrun MOSLER‑TÖRNSTRÖM - decided to deploy an electoral assessment mission[2] to this region.

Due to the specific nature of this vote and the tight calendar just before the Congress’ Session, the delegation was of a reduced scale and included five Congress’ members, three Congress’ staff members and two members of the EU Committee of the Regions. The delegation, headed by Lars O. MOLIN (Sweden, EPP/CCE), visited the country from 19 to 23 March 2015.

On 20 March 2015, the delegation met with the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and with the Minister of Regional Development and Constructions in Chisinau. It held also an exchange of views with representatives of the diplomatic corps. On the same day, the delegation held meetings with representatives of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia and with the Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia, in its capital Comrat. On 21 March 2015, meetings with eight candidates (out of the ten candidates registered) were arranged along with encounters with civil society and regional media representatives.

On Election Day, 22 March 2015, five Congress’ teams visited practically all the 65 polling stations in the three electoral districts – Comrat, Ceadir-Lunga and Vulcanesti. The composition of the delegation, its deployment plan on Election Day and the programme of the meetings held in Chisinau and Comrat can be found in the appendices.

1. Background

1.1 National context

Further to the last Parliamentary elections held on 30 November 2014, Chiril GABURICI (Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova) was appointed Prime Minister in February 2015. The pro-European parties won 55 mandates in the 101-seat Parliament but the process of coalition building was difficult. Chiril GABURICI is leading a minority Government backed by the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova and the Democratic Party. The Party of the Communists supported the Government in Parliament only. These elections were the first to be held after the adoption of the Association Agreement with the EU and since the governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI) collapsed mid-2013, after a vote of no‑confidence.

One of the main features of the Republic of Moldova’s political scene is the long-lasting tug-of-war over the geopolitical orientation of the country. Moldovan political scene is polarised between the pro-Russian camp and the pro-European one, the latter being in power at the central level. Thus, the relationship between the ATU Gagauzia Government and the central Government are tense, in particular because of the special and strong ties between the ATU Gagauzia and the Russian Federation. Russian is one of the three official languages the ATU, together with the State language and Gagauz, and most voters are in favour of close relations with Russia, including intensive trade and labour emigration.

1.2 Legal and political situation of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (ATU Gagauzia)

The Administrative-Territorial Unit of Gagauz-Yeri is an autonomous territorial unit of the Republic of Moldova, governed on the basis of the Law of the Republic of Moldova on the Special Status of Gagauzia (No. 344-XIII) of 23 December 1994. The autonomous status of the region was proposed as the outcome of peaceful dispute resolution negotiations after Gagauzia declared its independence in August 1991.

The executive power is held by the Governor (Bashkan), also a member of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, and the legislative body is the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. Both the Bashkan and the People’s Assembly members are elected directly by the people living in the ATU Gagauzia. The population is about 160,000 and 82% declare themselves Gagauz.

The ATU Gagauzia is composed of 32 localities, including the municipality of Comrat, the two towns of Ceadâr-Lunga and Vulcanesti, a locality belonging to Vulcanesti and 28 communes. The Administrative Territorial Unit is structured into three districts (dolay): Comrat, Ceadir-Lunga and Vulcanesti.

Elections for the 5^th People’s Assembly of the ATU Gagauzia were held in September 2012 in 35 uninominal electoral districts. 25 seats were won by independent candidates, seven by the PCRM (Party of Communists of Moldova), two by the LDPM (Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova) and two by the PSRM (Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova).

On 2 February 2014, two referenda were organised in ATU Gagauzia by the local authorities. In the first referendum, the voters were supposed to choose to support the Republic of Moldova’s integration within the EU or with the Moscow-led Eurasian Customs Union. The second referendum aimed at knowing Gagauz people’s opinion on the draft Law “on the deferred status of the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia” which provides that – in case of the Republic of Moldova loss of sovereignty, Gagauzia automatically declares its independence. Voters supported the integration with the Eurasian Customs Union by 98,4% and the draft Law by 98,9%. Both referenda were considered illegal by the central Government in Chisinau because foreign affairs are its exclusive prerogative.

1.3 Previous elections

In 2010 were organised the 5^th elections of the Governor of the ATU Gagauzia. In a repetition of the elections of 2006, Mihail FORMUZAL and Nicolai DUDOGLO succeeded to the runoffs and Mihail FORMUZAL was elected Governor with 51.4 percent of the votes for a second mandate. Irina VLAH was the only other candidate registered for the first round.

2. Organisation of the elections

2.1 Legal framework

The election of the Governor of the ATU Gagauzia is governed by the Law of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia on election of the Governor of Gagauzia adopted on 11 September 1998 and lastly amended in 2015. The January 2015 amendments lowered the minimum number of signatures needed to register as a candidate from 5,000 to 1,500 and provided that potential candidates should gather at least 100 signatures from each locality.

The Governor of the ATU Gagauzia is elected for a four-year term under a absolute majoritarian system. A Governor can stay in office no more than two consecutive mandates. A candidate is considered elected in the first round if he/she receives more than half of the valid votes casted. Otherwise, within two weeks from polling day, a second round of election is organised between the two candidates who have obtained the highest number of votes. There is a minimum turnout requirement of 50 % for the first round and 33% for the second round for the election to be valid. The Bashkan of Gagauzia is supposed to know the Gagauz language but despite a request filed to the CECG, it decided not to test candidates’ language level for the 2015 Bashkan elections.

One of the major issues that came out during meetings with various interlocutors[3] is the inconsistencies between the Moldovan legal framework and the Gagauz legal framework regarding elections. In particular, whether or not there should be as a silent day before Election Day or the rules concerning filming and photographing within polling stations are inconsistently handled[4].

2.2 The Central Electoral Commission of the ATU Gagauzia

The Gagauz election commission has a three-tiered structure. The Central Electoral Commission of the ATU Gagauzia is seconded by three district electoral commissions corresponding to the three administrative-territorial units of the ATU Gagauzia[5]. Precinct electoral commissions are formed at the level of polling stations and include 7 to 9 members. These members are appointed by local councils; the head of each Precinct electoral commission is elected amongst its members. A total of 65 polling stations were provided.

On 27 December 2014, the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia approved the decision on the establishment and composition of the Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia (CECG) – a nine-person ad-hoc commission – that prepared and conducted the elections on 22 March 2015. Valentin KARA was elected Chairman of the CECG, Ocsana NEDEALCO Deputy Chairperson and Elena KAZANJI CECG Secretary. The Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova[6] raised concerns regarding the temporary nature of the Central Electoral Commission of the ATU Gagauzia because it does not secure consistent decisions from elections to elections and professionalism of the election administration. The ad hoc CECG gained experience after it organised two referenda organised in 2014. For previous elections, the CEC in Chisinau provided the CECG with training materials and guidelines, as well as with voting materials used in polling stations such as the voting booths.

2.3 Candidates

The 2015 amendments to the Law on the election of the Bashkan related to the number of signatures required to be registered as a candidate significantly increased the number of candidates. Initially, 12 candidates were registered by the Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia: Valerii IANOGLO (independent); Ruslan GARBALI (independent); Nicolai DUDOGLO (independent candidate and incumbent Mayor of Comrat, supported by the Democratic Party of Moldova and “New Moldova” Party”); Irina VLAH (independent candidate supported by the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova); Oleg GARIZAN (independent); Alexandr STOIANOGLO (independent); Serghei CERNEV (independent); Dmitrii CROITOR (independent); Ilia ANASTASOV (independent); Leonid DOBROV (independent); Serghei BUZADJI (independent); Oleg CAICI (independent).

However, on 21 February 2015, Oleg CAICI (independent) withdrew from the electoral race in favour of Nicolai DUDOGLO (Mayor of Comrat, supported by the Democratic Party). On 13 March, Serghei BUZADJI (independent) also withdrew from the race after he had accepted Irina VLAH’s (independent, supported by the Party of the Socialists) proposition of joining her. Therefore, eventually, 10 candidates ran for the elections of Bashkan on 22 March 2015.

2.4 Ballot papers

A total of 106,867 ballot papers were prepared in Chisinau in three languages[7]: 1,527 ballots in the Gagauz language, 1,139 in the State language, and 104,201 ballots in the Russian language. Electoral districts commissions estimated the total number of ballot papers needed in the respective language and received them by 21 March 2015.

Mobile boxes should be provided for people unable to come to the polling stations. Postal vote is not provided by the Gagauz Law on the election of the Bashkan.

2.5 Voters’ lists

The accuracy of voter lists in the ATU Gagauzia has been raised by the Congress’ delegation who observed the 2011 Bashkan elections and interlocutors met in Comrat in 2015[8]. The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova decided not to intervene in the preparation of the voter lists but proposed the Central Electoral Commission of ATU Gagauzia to have access to the Electronic State Register of Voters used for the 2014 Parliamentary electiond. The proposition was rejected by the CECG for security reasons related to inconsistent data[9]. According to Valentin KARA[10], Chairman of the CECG, 136,000 voters were registered in Gagauzia on the occasion of the last Parliamentary elections by the CEC of the Republic of Moldova but only 105.000 voters were registered for the Bashkan elections on lists compiled by the local authorities. In this context, the issue of possible “dead souls” on voter lists has been raised during several meetings with candidates of the Congress’ delegation. The CEC also decided to recommend to all electoral bureaus to verify the quality of the voter lists[11].

Another concern regarding voters’ lists[12] is related to the languages used. Potential mistakes could have occurred during the verification process because the large majority of voter lists in the ATU Gagauzia was established in Russian language, whereas the ID cards are issued by the central authorities in the State language. According to the Gaugauz Electoral Law, voters residing abroad are allowed to vote if they are in the region on Election Day and able to present a residence permit.

On Election Day, people who did not appear in their residence polling station’s list could register on supplementary lists provided that they produced a residence permit. To secure the voting, a special stamp was applied on the sheets accompanying the ID cards of citizens that voted.

3. Electoral campaign

3.1 Tone of the electoral campaign

The electoral campaign started on 2 January 2015, official date for the registration of candidates, and ended on 21 March 2015. Following a decision of the Central Electoral Commission of the ATU Gagauzia[13], no silent day was imposed to candidates who were allowed to campaign on 21 March. According to the CECG, Article 54 of the law on the elections of the Bashkan of Gagauzia does not provide any silent day before Election Day. However, norms contradict because the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova provides a 24 hours silent period. Regarding campaign material on Election Day, the issue of removing electoral banners on Election Day raised controversy and the CECG finally decided that the prohibition of campaigning on Election Day would not cover online advertising and the billboards placed earlier.

According to observers and some of the candidates[14], encountered by the Congress’ delegation, the election campaign was more active than in 2010 and no major incidents were noticed. According to the incumbent Governor Mihail FORMUZAL, “the electoral campaign in Gagauzia has been generally calm, as planned, without serious provocations or incidents.[15]”

3.2 Campaign financing

The financing of the electoral campaign was a major point of concern[16]. According to the CECG Chairman, each candidate can spend a maximum amount of 2 million Moldovan Lei for campaign purposes and has to produce a weekly update of his/her campaign bank account. Only Moldovan residents and legal entities can donate to candidates and political parties but there is no legal provision to make donors’ names public and there is no ceiling for individual donations. These provisions could be modified to ensure more transparency.

While the majority of candidates financed their campaign with their own funds or with the support of their friends and families[17], all of them denounced the extravagance of Irina VLAH’s (independent, supported by the Party of the Socialists) campaign. In particular, her campaign organised free concerts with famous Russian artists and sportspersons even on the eve of Election Day. The active participation of Russian high officials who openly supported Irina VLAH (independent, supported by the Party of the Socialists) and the broadcasting of pro-VLAH programmes by Russian national media were also a source of concern for the Congress’ interlocutors. Irina VLAH is also said to have travelled on a weekly basis to Moscow and was supported by numerous members of the Russian State Duma who came to Comrat[18].

The issue of misuse of administrative resources during the electoral campaign was also raised during the campaign[19] but no official complaints had been lodged prior to Election Day. In particular, the Mayor of Comrat, held back from his municipal mandate during the electoral campaign. The Municipality of Comrat did not let a member of the Russian State Duma supporting Irina VLAH (independent, supported by the Party of the Socialists) hold a meeting in the city hall[20].

3.3 Media

Regarding access to the media, candidates seemed to have enjoyed equal opportunities, in particular when participating in electoral debates organised by GagauzMedia[21]. However, some media outlets did not cover the campaign in a balanced manner, showing clear preference for certain candidates and denigrating some other candidates[22].

On Election Day, Nicolai DUDOGLO (independent) asked the CECG to stop the broadcasting of the Russian TV channel Rossiya 24 television until 5 April 2015, the date of the expected second round. According to him, the TV channel covered the election of the Bashkan in biased manner, notably calling Irina VLAH (independent, supported by the Party of the Socialists) the leader of the race and saying the second round was unlikely[23]. Another Russian TV, Perviy Kanal, has also presented Irina VLAH as the favourite of Moscow and emphasized that she pledged for tight relations with the Russian Federation[24].

4. Election Day

Election Day took place in an overall calm and peaceful atmosphere and was well prepared. Only a mistake in the counting of ballots in the morning created some tension in a polling station after the opening because these ballots were considered to be stolen.

The 65 polling stations opened from 7 am to 9 pm and the Congress’ delegation was given full access to all polling stations visited. The members of the Precinct Electoral Commissions were usually well aware of electoral procedures.

Even if the delegation noticed some irregularities such as family voting, they did not seem to be systematic or happen with fraudulent intent. Same applies for the non-folding of ballot papers that could threaten secrecy of the vote but did not seem to be fraudulent. During Election Day, the Congress was reported cases of disappearance of vote stamps and allegations of vote-buying.

The Congress’ teams could observe the extensive and systematic use of supplementary voter lists, containing occasionally very high numbers of voters. According to NGO sources, a total of 4,529 voters were registered on these supplementary lists on Election Day[25]. Cases of dead people’s names on the voter lists were reported to the Congress’ delegation in some polling stations. Mobile ballot boxes were also requested by voters, and sometimes by a large number of them[26]. However, the Congress could not witness voting outside polling stations.

Most polling stations visited were difficult to accede for people with disabilities and for elderly persons. Moreover, assisted voting was witnessed by the Congress’ delegation in some places, notably regarding elderly voters.

The Congress delegation appreciated that information posters for voters were posted at the entrance of most of polling stations. This information was mainly available in Russian language and so were the vast majority of the ballots used for this election. However, propaganda material could be found in the vicinity of some polling stations, which is normally forbidden.

Several teams of the Congress’ delegation also observed the vote counting in polling stations. It seemed largely well organised and took place calmly and in respect of procedures guaranteeing a fair and transparent counting. The main reason for invalidating ballots was the absence of stamping; the number of invalid ballots seemed reasonable to the Congress’ observers.

A total of 67 international observers from 13 institutions visited polling stations on Election Day. Some observers from the NGO Pilgrim Demo were also present in some polling stations. Representatives of parties and/or candidates were systematically observing the voting and the counting process.

5. Results

On 23 March 2015, the Central Electoral Commission of the ATU Gagauzia held a press conference on the results of the Bashkan elections.

The results are as follows:

Candidate	Number of votes	Percentage of votes
Irina VLAH	32,543	51.01
Nicolai DUDOGLO	12,154	19.05
Valerii IANIOGLO	5,080	7.96
Dmitrii CROITOR	3,956	6.20
Oleg GARIZAN	3,257	5.11
Ruslan GARBALI	3,175	4.98
Alexandr STOIANOGLO	3,172	4.97
Leonid DOBROV	252	0.40
Serghei CERNEV	120	0.19
Ilia ANASTASOV	84	0.13

A total of 105,469 voters were registered and 64,033 of them participated in the election. The turnout was 58.21 percent, meeting the 50 percent turnout requirement to consider the election valid. 359 ballots were declared invalid[27].

6. Appeals and complaints

A total of 25 complaints have been filed by candidates on Election Day and 4 during the electoral campaign, most of them being related to inaccuracies in voter lists and infringements on Election Day[28]. According to Valentin Kara, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the ATU Gagauzia, these infringements, including the loss of some ballots and voting stamps were not able to influence the election results[29]. Accusations of vote bribery in favour of Irina VLAH (independent, supported by the Party of the Socialists) were also made by some candidates who asked for vote recounting[30]. These requests were dismissed by the CECG.

On 31 March 2015, the Comrat Court of Appeals validated the results of the election of the Governor of the ATU Gagauzia held on 22 March 2015.

7. Conclusions

Despite the fact that these elections were held in a calm and orderly manner without major incidents, the Congress identified three main issues in the area of electoral law and management.

- First, there is some inconsistency between the Republic of Moldova and the Gagauz region with regard to legal provisions, and notably the issue of a so-called silent day the Saturday before an election which is not provided by the Gagauz local law. Both local and central authorities could work together to solve the inconsistencies between the two legal frameworks and create a more stable campaign environment in the ATU Gagauzia.

- Second, the considerably high number of voters on supplementary lists throughout the region is a major concern, mainly due to erroneous or not sufficiently up-dated voters' lists which were collected by the local authorities. Hence, the Gagauz authorities could consider using the electronic voters' lists based on the state register provided by the Central Election Commission of Moldova to improve the quality of the lists.

- Third, the question of campaign financing of different candidates should be handled by the authorities, notably with regard to the campaign of Irina VLAH who was openly supported by high-ranking Russian officials and invited the citizens to free concerts in public places with prominent artists from Moscow. The Gagauz law does not make it obligatory for donors to make their contributions public but more transparency on campaign financing could benefit to the whole electoral process and enhance the public’s confidence.

Last but not least, the Congress underlines that some concerns related to voting procedures are recurrent, such as family voting and the non-folding of ballot papers, which are both threatening the secrecy of the vote. Allegations of vote-buying are still wide-spread with no possibility for the Congress’ delegation to actually eyewitness this phenomenon.

APPENDIX

Congress delegation

Members of the Congress:

Mr Lars O. MOLIN, EPP/CCE, L, Sweden (Head of Delegation and Rapporteur)

Mrs Andrée BUCHMANN, SOC, R, France

Mr Stewart DICKSON, GILD-ILDG, R, United Kingdom (Deputy Spokesperson on Election Observation)

Mrs Line Vennesland FRASER, CRE-ECR, L, Norway

Mr Matej GOMBOSI, EPP/CCE, L, Slovenia

EU Committee of the Regions:

Mrs Doreen HUDDART, ALDE, United Kingdom

Mr Karim VAN OVERMEIRE, EA, Belgium

Congress Secretariat:

Ms Renate ZIKMUND, Head of Division, Local and Regional Election Observation

Ms Martine ROUDOLFF, Assistant, Local and Regional Election Observation

Mrs Lise DUVAL, Election Observation, Support

Programme 19-23 March 2015

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Various times Arrival of the Congress Delegation in Chisinau

Friday, 20 March 2015

Chisinau and Comrat (Venue: Altin Palace)

8:00 – 09:00 Background briefing with the Congress’ Secretariat and the Head of the CoE Office in Chisinau

Venue: Regency Hotel

09:00 – 09:50 Meeting with ambassadors:

Ambassador Pascal VAGOGNE, France

Ambassador Ulrike KNOTZ, Germany

Ambassador Marius Gabriel LAZURCA, Romania

Ambassador Ingrid TERSMAN, Sweden

Ambassador Pirkka TAPIOLA, Head of European Union Delegation and political officer Mindaugas KACERAUSKIS

Venue: Regency Hotel

10:00 – 10:50 Meeting with the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, Dr. Iurie CIOCAN

Venue: CEC

11:10 – 11:50 Meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Daniela CUJBA

Venue: MFAEI

12:00 – 12:50 Meeting with the Minister of Regional Development and Constructions Vasile BATCA

Venue: MRDC

Transfer Chisinau – Comrat

15:30 – 16:30 Meeting with the President of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, Dmitri KONSTANTINOV

Venue: People Assembly

Comrat, 196 Lenin str

16:40 – 17:40 Meeting with the Chairperson of the CEC of Gagauzia Valentin KARA

Venue: People Assembly

Comrat, 196 Lenin str

Transfer from Comrat to Chisinau

Dinner and debriefing

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Chisinau and Comrat (Venue: Altin Palace)

Transfer from Chisinau to Comrat

9:30-10:00 Meeting with Alexandr STOIANOGLO (candidate for Bashkan of Gagauzia)