The People’s Assembly has registered a draft amendment to the Electoral Code in Parliament. The initiative proposes that the electoral body in the region be named “The Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia”.
The provisions establish that autonomously, the Commission will handle the organization of regional polls – the election of the People’s Assembly, the governor, and local referendums, reports realitatea.md. When the President of Moldova, Parliament, will be elected, there will be republican referendums or general local elections, the authority will exercise the role of the second level Electoral District Council.
The Gagauzia Electoral Commission, according to the proposed provisions, would be independent of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova and other state authorities.
Tensions between Chisinau and Comrat have escalated against the backdrop of disagreements in national and local legislation regarding the naming of the electoral body in the region. The country’s law stipulates that it is about the “electoral council”, while the regulations in the region use the term “commission”.
On March 17, the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia decided to establish a new electoral body and set the date of the elections for June 21, after the Supreme Court of Justice had previously suspended some decisions regarding its composition, blocking the conduct of the vote scheduled for March.
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice has notified the Constitutional Court regarding the responsibilities of the authorities in Gagauzia in organizing elections. When the request will be examined is not yet known, and the magistrates have asked for the Parliament’s position before examining the issue, previously stated to the press by speaker Igor Grosu.