Chisinau snap elections declared invalid

The invalidation of the early mayoral elections in Chisinau have triggered domestic protests and international concern

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Bogdan Matei, 21.06.2018, 13:26

On Wednesday night, when anti-government protests were being staged in big cities across Romania, thousands of people also took to the streets in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova against a court ruling that invalidated the results of the early mayoral elections in the capital Chisinau. Their winner, the former civic activist and one of the current leaders of the pro-European opposition, Andrei Nastase, was found guilty of breaking the electoral code for urging citizens to go out and vote on the date of the ballot. The mayor elect has described the ruling as arbitrary and his lawyers have already appealed it.

Nastase, who is the leader of the Dignity and Truth platform, defeated the Socialist Ion Ceban, an aide of the countrys pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, winning more than 52% of the votes in the second round of the mayoral race held on the 3rd of June. The position remained vacant when the former mayor elected in June 2015, the pro-European Liberal Dorin Chirtoaca resigned after being indicted as part of a case he says was politically engineered.

The head of a cabinet that also describes itself as pro-western, prime minister Pavel Fillip says the court ruling “raises many question marks”. “Who benefits from the ruling”, Filip asks himself, “at a time when the Republic of Moldova was seeing some progress, both politically and financially?” Valeriu Munteanu, the vice-president of the Liberal Party, in opposition, and who backed Nastase in the final round, warns that after this court ruling, the European Union may suspend funding to the Republic of Moldova.

The European Commission delegation to Chisinau has said, in fact, that Andrei Nastase has been elected mayor by the voters. The United States is looking closely at the details referring to this decision and working with its partners in civil society and the diplomatic community to ensure the supremacy of true democratic values, the US embassy said.

The Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu warns the ruling may affect Moldovas stability:

“Of course, Im not aware of all the details of the legal provisions in the Republic of Moldova, but I believe that when a person has been clearly validated through popular vote, such things can only create the possibility of a worsening of the relations between the authorities of the Republic of Moldova and the political parties. There is a possibility these things may have negative repercussions for the stability of the Republic of Moldova.”

All three opposition parties in the Romanian Parliament have expressed their solidarity with Nastase. If his term is still not validated by a higher court, Chisinau will be led by an interim mayor until the local elections next year.

(translated by Cristina Mateescu)