The People’s Assembly of Gagauzia sent to the Constitutional Court a response to the lawsuit of the Ministry of Justice, which concerns electoral mechanisms and the procedure for appointing certain officials in the autonomy. The deputies consider the demands of the Ministry of Justice “unfounded” and state that “the contested norms comply with the Constitution and the model of autonomy enshrined in 1994.” The decision was made at an extraordinary meeting on April 29. The NSG stated that the request from the Ministry of Justice “does not contain specific examples of violations and replaces the legal assessment with political arguments.”
Deputies believe that the current system of Gagauzia’s participation in the appointment of heads of security forces “does not violate the Constitution.” The NSG also stated that the current model “became part of the 1994 compromise that brought about a peaceful settlement in the south of the country.” In their opinion, “revision of these norms through the Constitutional Court could upset the balance of relations between Chisinau and the autonomy.”
20 out of 21 deputies present supported the recall to the Constitutional Court.
Appeal from Hutsul
At the same meeting, the Bashkan of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, who is in pre-trial detention center No. 13, conveyed an appeal to members of the Executive Committee of the autonomy. The document was read by the deputy. In her address, she stated pressure from the central authorities and attempts to influence the electoral processes in Gagauzia.
“Today I am again forced to talk about the main thing – about the unprecedented pressure on our autonomy and the attempts of the central authorities to take total control of the electoral processes in Gagauzia,” the address says.
Hutsul said that Chisinau is trying to “limit the political independence of the region.”
“Today we are faced with a situation where Chisinau is already openly encroaching on the most important thing – the political subjectivity of Gagauzia. (…) They are trying to prove to us that the Gagauz people no longer need to independently elect the Bashkan and the People’s Assembly. They want to convince us that this right can be transferred to the central authorities,” she wrote.
Separately, Hutsul addressed the mayors, saying that promises of investment and support “may turn out to be temporary.” “All these promises will exist exactly until the moment the central government gains full control over the elections in Gagauzia,” she noted.
The appeal was transmitted from pre-trial detention center No. 13 through lawyers. This is not the first appeal from Hutsul from the pre-trial detention center.
Deputy Bashkan on the media
Deputy Bashkan Ilya Uzun criticized the media that cover the elections to the NSG, calling them an “information dump.”
“I would like to remind some information dumpsters: when they speak, we understand that they speak for Soros’s money. (…) 250 thousand people from morning to evening write all kinds of dirt and mislead the people. (…) When you broadcast in your media that Gagauz autonomy is cultural and economic, read the laws. It clearly states that our autonomy is a political, economic and social project,” Uzun said.
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On March 9, Justice Minister Vladislav Kozhuhar sent a request to the Constitutional Court (CC) to check the constitutionality of the provisions of the law regarding the conduct of elections in Gagauzia and the appointment of heads of local departments of central departments. We are talking about the law “On the special legal status of Gagauzia”. The Ministry of Justice asks to check the norm according to which the competence of the People’s Assembly includes “approval of the composition of the Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia for holding elections.”
The department believes that this provision creates institutional dualism in the unified electoral system of Moldova. The authors of the appeal noted that “autonomy is a form of self-government, not a “state within a state,” and it should remain under the control of the state of Moldova.”
On April 3, the Cahul Appeals Chamber granted the petition of the territorial office of the State Chancellery in Comrat and suspended the decisions of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia adopted on March 17. We are talking about resolutions calling elections for June 21, forming the Central Election Commission of Gagauzia and approving the voting procedure.
April 7, Cahul Appeals Chamber too suspended NSG decision to hold elections scheduled for June 21. The information was confirmed to NM by the head of the State Chancellery office in Comrat, Sergei Chernev. The court satisfied the request of the State Chancellery, which challenged the decisions of the People’s Assembly adopted on March 17.
April 9 People’s Assembly of Gagauzia filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice to resume preparations for elections in the autonomy.
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The mandate of the deputies of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia expired last year, but elections have still not been held – first due to the lack of a permanent electoral body, and then due to a dispute over its name. To get out of the situation, NSG deputies gathered for two special sessions on March 17. And although the election date was approved, legal inconsistencies with national legislation remained.
And the Ministry of Justice even questions the very possibility of organizing elections by autonomous bodies. Read more about this in the NM report: “Appeal to Putin, Dodon’s benefit performance and the “wrong” Gagauz. How elections were called in Gagauzia, which most likely will not happen”.
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