Statement by a head of the EP delegation to observe the Moldovan Presidential elections 

“Our delegation has been delighted to be here to observe the first direct elections of the President of the country since 1996. I am personally very pleased to return to Moldova, where I chaired the European Parliament delegation that observed the parliamentary elections in 2014. We would like to thank the Moldovan authorities for their invitation.

As you know, Moldova stands very high on the agenda of the European Union and of the European Parliament. We have had the opportunity to reiterate this message in our meetings with the most senior Moldovan authorities

The European Parliament delegation subscribes fully to the preliminary statement that has just been presented by OSCE Special Coordinator, Ms Arta Dade, on behalf of the International Election Observation Mission, and I take this opportunity to thank Ambassador Doug Wake and his team for their cooperation and I commend their excellent work. I would also like to thank my colleagues from other parliamentary assemblies for our productive collaboration. Thanks also to the Head of the EU Delegation Pirkka Tapiola for his huge assistance to us during our time in the country. We are all here to support the people of Moldova in their process of ongoing democratisation.

First of all, I would like to speak briefly about Election Day, when our delegation travelled widely in the country. Like our colleagues from the other parliamentary assemblies – we were struck by the generally excellent organisation of the electoral process and the professionalism of the staff in the polling stations.

A significant fact is that in the polling stations visited yesterday by observers, three quarters of the commissioners – including the chairpersons – were women. The very positive evaluation of the organisation of the elections is also their achievement.

However, one issue that I would like to flag up for future elections is the need for polling stations to improve access to their premises for people with disabilities.

More generally we were very pleased to see a high number of female candidates in these elections. This is certainly a welcome improvement on the parliamentary elections of 2014. We hope that this might be a turning point for the future of Moldova in which both men and women take an active part in political life and have equal opportunities to compete for public office at all levels. We also express the wish that in the future the media will refrain from stereotyping based on gender and will treat all candidates with equal respect.

It is clear that the people of Moldova want to see change. Elections are essential but genuine efforts also need to be made to reform the environment in which politics operates. Otherwise there will continue to be a lack of trust and a great risk of corruption.

During our time in Moldova we had the opportunity to listen to various stakeholders representing different political parties, media outlets and non-governmental organisations. We also drew on the findings of experts deployed as long-term observers. Together we identified the main concerns, many of which have been highlighted by previous speakers.

I would like now to focus on the issue of financial scrutiny. A lack of transparency in the area of campaign finance – as well as the possibilities that to manipulate the media that this can provide – is a matter of great concern. This concern extends beyond election-related activities to the more general question of the funding of political parties, where there is also a need for fundamental reform. It is therefore vital to ensure that there should be rigorous and effective scrutiny of party and campaign finance.  

We acknowledge that substantial legislative amendments have been introduced in the last two years to address the shortcomings. However, I wish to underline that the institutions enforcing the rules, particularly the Central Election Commission, must have adequate resources and competences to carry out their tasks in this field.

In conclusion - we are now looking forward to the second round of the elections. I would like to emphasise that in the coming days all political forces and other players must play their role in defusing tensions, avoiding divisive rhetoric and ensuring that the people of Moldova will have the opportunity to cast their ballots based on a genuine and informed choice between the political programmes of the two candidates.

In particular, we call on media outlets to act responsibly and in line with high ethical standards and on the Audio-visual Coordination Council to ensure in a timely and effective manner that the rules regarding the fair, balanced and impartial coverage are respected.”