CIVIL FORUM KEEPS INSISTING ON EARLY ELECTION

The Civil Forum is insisting on holding an early election in Moldova, reads the Forum’s Resolution made public at a news conference on Thursday.

The document was prepared on the basis of the results of the Civil Forum’s roundtable conference entitled “Civil society consolidation in struggle against the oligarchic regime”, which was held in Chisinau last Friday and was attended by protesters’ leaders and the representatives of various political parties and non-governmental organizations. The Resolution comprised the generalized proposals made by discussion participants. The document will be sent to the Moldovan authorities, to all political parties, international organizations and diplomatic representations.

The Resolution authors wrote that the State and state institutions in Moldova have been captured by politico-oligarchic clans, whereas the protests against “oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc and mafia in power” have failed to give results. The Resolution expressed concern about unhappy attempts to establish dialog between the power and the opposition or to ensure the realization of reforms.

“The only solution for overcoming this situation is an early parliamentary election that must be held immediately upon the implementation of a number of reforms called to ensure a correct and free election. At the same time, to ensure the realization of this demand, pressure on the authorities will be growing, including by means of holding peaceful and civilized actions of protest”, said the Resolution.

Its authors have demanded the creation of a legal frame for returning to direct electing of presidents in Moldova.

They have formulated demands, which the authorities should meet within next 30 days within the framework of preparation to an early parliamentary election. Among the demands are: to establish order in the banking sector; to eliminate risks of money laundering; to appoint a new president of the National Bank of Moldova and new NBM vice-presidents through contests; to replace the leaderships of the Central Election Commission and of the Audiovisual Coordinating Council; to ensure transparency in the question of financing of political parties; to cancel censorship and prohibit the concentration of mass media in one person’s hands; to de-monopolize the advertising market.

“If these demands fail to be met, the people [of Moldova] reserve the right, in conformity with the Declaration of Independence, to resort to protesting and to using their right to govern the state”, said the Resolution.

Institute for Public Policy (IPP) Director Arcadie Barbarosie emphasized that this is a minimum package of demands for the authorities to meet first and foremost.

“We believe that these are conditions that are realizable within the agreed-on 30-day period. This is only how it is possible to create conditions for democratic elections. To our mind, it would be expedient to hold an early parliamentary election simultaneously with an ordinary presidential election – not later than next autumn”, said Arcadie Barbarosie.

The Resolution authors called on international organizations and Moldova’s development partners to organize monitoring of how the authorities will be fulfilling the protesters’ demands, and to act as mediators in a possible dialog between the authorities and the opposition. Barbarosie said that the best mediator in this could be the Council of Europe.