The Executive Committee of Gagauzia unanimously rejected the draft resolution on June 9 on holding elections of deputies to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG) of the next convocation. The Executive Committee reported that the document contradicts the legislation of Moldova and Gagauzia. The meeting began with an appeal from the ex-Bashkan of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, who is serving a sentence in prison No. 13 in Chisinau in the case of illegal financing of the former Shor party. After this, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee Ilya Uzun accused the central authorities of deliberately creating chaos to subordinate the authorities to the autonomy.
“When the central authorities made changes to the Electoral Code in 2022, for some reason they forgot to make a small amendment that Gagauzia holds its own elections within the framework of its regulatory documents. They are the ones who created this chaos. The People’s Assembly is not allowed to call elections; this process is blocked by various decisions, through the courts and letters to the State Chancellery,” Uzun shared.
According to lawyer Vitaly Derevenko, the draft resolution prepared by Chisinau contains significant contradictions with the current legislation.
One of the main points of criticism was the use in the draft of the term “Central Electoral Council” instead of the “Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia,” the name of which is enshrined in Law No. 344 on the special legal status of Gagauzia. The lawyer emphasized that the People’s Assembly does not have the right to change the name of the electoral body by resolution, since such changes can only be made through amendments to the relevant laws.
Another note concerns changes to the Electoral Code of Moldova, which were adopted in 2022 without prior consultations with the authorities of the autonomy. The Executive Committee claims that parliament is obliged to submit any projects concerning its status for approval of the autonomy, but in this situation they did not do so.
Derevenko also explained that the project does not explain why the current norms of the Electoral Code of Gagauzia, which already regulate the conduct of elections in the autonomy, are insufficient or inapplicable. In his opinion, without such justification, the adoption of a separate normative act has no basis.
The lawyer clarified that the provisions of Law No. 344 on the special legal status of Gagauzia are of a special and priority nature. This means that in case of conflicts between this law and other regulations, including the Electoral Code of Moldova, the provisions of Law No. 344 take precedence. Consequently, the changes made to the Electoral Code in 2022 do not work on the territory of Gagauzia if they violate the law on the special status of autonomy.
“The Executive Committee believes that the submitted draft does not contain sufficient regulatory and legal justification. The Executive Committee came to the conclusion that it is inappropriate to adopt this document and does not support this normative act, which should regulate elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia,” the Executive Committee reported.
After presenting the conclusions of the Executive Committee, Ilya Uzun called on the Chisinau authorities to organize open and transparent discussions about the situation around the elections in the autonomy, instead of making decisions without consultation with Gagauzia.
“If dialogue is needed, then why is everything done secretly and decided behind closed doors? Why can’t we discuss this openly so that everyone can see and understand who created this problem?” – Uzun said, addressing the central authorities.
Previously President Maia Sandu suggested that Russia may be involved in blocking elections in Gagauzia. According to the head of state, after representatives of Chisinau and Comrat reached a compromise on legal issues for holding elections in the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, the position of some members of the NSG “unexpectedly changed.”
Let us recall that the political crisis in Gagauzia intensified. The document developed by Chisinau and Comrat, which creates the legal conditions for holding elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG), was not accepted by local deputies. NM told what happened and why we are now talking about organizing two elections: a new composition of the NSG and a new Bashkan.
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