The People’s Assembly insists on establishing its own Central Electoral Commission. The subject will be examined at the extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, March 17, of the authority in Comrat. The leader of the socialists, Igor Dodon, is also expected to attend the meeting.
The date of the elections in the region is to be set during the meeting. According to IPN, the meeting was convened by the interim president of the People’s Assembly, Nikolai Ormanji.
Other election-related topics are also on the agenda of the meeting: the proposal of candidates for the composition of the CEC of Gagauzia, the approval of the staff of the commission, as well as the adoption of a resolution on the use of the terms “Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia” and “Central Electoral Council of Gagauzia”.
Tensions arose after the Ministry of Justice appealed to the Constitutional Court, requesting a check on the legality of provisions regarding the special legal status of Gagauzia, according to which the People’s Assembly approves the composition of the Central Electoral Commission of the region. The authority in Chisinau believes that this norm creates an institutional “dualism” in the electoral system of Moldova, as the electoral body in Comrat is called the Central Electoral Council in national legislation.
The political-legal crisis related to the elections in the People’s Assembly has been ongoing for more than a year. The mandate of the current legislature has expired, but new elections have not been organized. Initially, the vote was to take place on November 16, 2025. Subsequently, it was rescheduled for March 22, but the court annulled the decision to supplement the electoral body, after which the organization of elections became impossible.
Chisinau insists on the standardization of legislation and proposes that the rules for organizing elections in the region be brought into line with national standards, including by verifying members of the electoral body by the Information and Security Service and integrity bodies. In Comrat, on the contrary, it is believed that the region should retain the right to independently form its CEC and organize elections based on the law regarding its special status.