Congress delegation concludes assessment mission to Gagauzia

Chisinau, 13 December 2010 - A five member-delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe carried out a mission to assess the political situation in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, Republic of Moldova, in respect of the elections of the Governor (Bashkan) of Gagauzia, that were held on 12 December.

Following meetings with representatives of the central authorities and the diplomatic community in Chisinau on 10 December, to discuss, in particular, the consequences of the early parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova on 28 November, the Congress delegation held talks with candidates, electoral officials and representatives of the regional media and civil society on 11 December in Comrat (Gagauzia).

Amongst important issues raised by spokesmen during these discussions with the Congress delegation were: the short electoral campaign in Gagauzia, overshadowed by the early parliamentary elections; the still existing lack of correlation between regional electoral regulations and the Election Code of Moldova; the fact that several regional provisions would need to be amended; as well as problems connected to the three official languages of the Autonomous Unit of Gagauzia those being Russian, Moldovan and Gagauzian. Regional NGOs pointed to some deficiencies in respect of the electoral administration, notably concerning the accuracy of voters lists. In general, the media campaign was described as less “dirty” and more substantive than during previous elections.

The assessment team, comprising three Congress members (Britt-Marie Lövgren, Sweden/ILDG, Valentina Rossi, San Marino/SOC and Volkram Gebel, Germany/EPP/CD) and two members of the Congress secretariat, visited, on an ad hoc-basis, ten randomnly selected polling stations in Comrat, Ceadir-Lunga and other municipalties on 12 December 2010.