Newsroom
OSCE Mission concerned over shortcomings during elections in Moldova's Gagauz Region
CHISINAU 17 November 2003
CHISINAU, 17 November 2003 - The first round of elections to the People's Assembly held 16 November in Moldova's autonomous Gagauz region were marked by deficiencies concerning the secret ballot and the registration of candidates and voters, the OSCE Mission to Moldova concluded at a press conference today.
"The low turnout raises concern with regard to the danger of continuously repeated elections," said Ambassador William Hill, Head of the OSCE Mission.
Following an invitation of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Moldova and the People's Assembly of the Gagauzian Autonomous Territorial Unit, the OSCE Mission to Moldova carried out a political assessment of the elections to the Gagauz People's Assembly. The Mission followed the election campaign, regularly met election administration officials as well as candidates. On election day, five teams from the Mission assessed the conduct of the elections in 51 out of the 64 polling stations.
Although the administration of the elections in general went smoothly, the OSCE Mission to Moldova emphasized that there is room for improvement especially in the registration process. A prevailing number of 185 candidates were registered as independents, which indicates that the party system will further disintegrate. Some of the parties preferred to support independent candidates.
Modernization of voter registration is also necessary. The OSCE Mission believes that the election administration should be more actively involved in the training of the election personnel in order to provide the application of similar procedures in every polling station.
After a brief review of the elections, the impression of the OSCE Mission is that the election process was conducted according to the provisions of the regional Election Law and in line with international standards for transparency and accountability of the election process.
The OSCE Mission will also assess the second round of elections, to be held on 30 November 2003. The Mission will prepare recommendations for procedural and technical improvements as well as for improvements to the legal framework, which will follow after the announcement of final results of the first and second rounds of elections.
"The low turnout raises concern with regard to the danger of continuously repeated elections," said Ambassador William Hill, Head of the OSCE Mission.
Following an invitation of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Moldova and the People's Assembly of the Gagauzian Autonomous Territorial Unit, the OSCE Mission to Moldova carried out a political assessment of the elections to the Gagauz People's Assembly. The Mission followed the election campaign, regularly met election administration officials as well as candidates. On election day, five teams from the Mission assessed the conduct of the elections in 51 out of the 64 polling stations.
Although the administration of the elections in general went smoothly, the OSCE Mission to Moldova emphasized that there is room for improvement especially in the registration process. A prevailing number of 185 candidates were registered as independents, which indicates that the party system will further disintegrate. Some of the parties preferred to support independent candidates.
Modernization of voter registration is also necessary. The OSCE Mission believes that the election administration should be more actively involved in the training of the election personnel in order to provide the application of similar procedures in every polling station.
After a brief review of the elections, the impression of the OSCE Mission is that the election process was conducted according to the provisions of the regional Election Law and in line with international standards for transparency and accountability of the election process.
The OSCE Mission will also assess the second round of elections, to be held on 30 November 2003. The Mission will prepare recommendations for procedural and technical improvements as well as for improvements to the legal framework, which will follow after the announcement of final results of the first and second rounds of elections.