The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe welcomed the well-administered local elections in the Republic of Moldova held on 5 November 2023, in a recommendation adopted on 27 March 2024 during the Congress session.
The recommendation, based on a report by Vladimir Prebilic (Slovenia, SOC/G/PD), commended the work of the well-trained election administration and noted that the election day was overall calm and transparent, despite some minor procedural issues; the use of voter identification devices and video cameras, as well as the large presence of observers, contributed to the transparency and trust in the process.
The rapporteur noted that the Congress delegation, which was deployed to several districts throughout the country and visited around 115 polling stations, assessed positively the revision of the Electoral Code in 2022 and was highly satisfied to see that many of the Congress long-standing recommendations – including on gender quotas, requirement for independent candidates and party and campaign finance – had been addressed in the new Code.
The Congress also welcomed the increased oversight of the Central Election Commission over campaign and party finance and the substantial efforts of the election administration to proactively investigate corruption allegations. At the same time, noting numerous and credible reports of corruption of voters and candidates received by the delegation, the Congress called on the authorities to build the administration’s capacities and increased voters’ awareness of prohibited activities.
The Congress also called for more efforts on election dispute resolution, noting that disputes and contradictory decisions related to the right to stand in elections created legal uncertainty and negatively impacted the electoral process. “We believe that the stability of the electoral framework is paramount to ensure trust in the impartiality of the process. We regretted that some decisions were not taken early enough and sometimes without necessary consultations, debate or clear justification”, pointed out the rapporteur.
Finally, the Congress highlighted other areas for improvement, such the low representation of women and the problems with accessibility of polling station. “In addition, we recommend scrapping the age and education requirements for becoming mayor”, concluded Mr Prebilic.
Contact person: Jaime Rodriguez, Spokesperson/Media Officer, Directorate of Communications, Council of Europe, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42
***
46th Session
Agenda – Web file – Photos