2006 News Archive

Joint Statement on the Second Round of Bashkan Elections in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia within the Republic of Moldova

December 20, 2006

The Heads of Mission signatories to this statement commend the Gagauz electoral authorities for good and professional administration of the second round of elections for Gagauz Bashkan (Governor) on 17 December 2006.

 In our judgment, the run-off elections were held in a calm and orderly manner and were largely consistent with international standards for democratic elections.

We were pleased to note that a number of shortcomings cited during the first round by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), the OSCE Mission to Moldova, as well as local and international observers, such as unequal campaign conditions, inappropriate use of administrative resources and preferential access to the media, were not present during the second round.

Although procedures on Election day also improved, there were still a number shortcomings which need to be addressed in future elections. These included, among others, the improper verification of identification documents and inaccuracies in establishing the number of voters who participated.

As a general matter, we urge the Gagauz Peoples’ Assembly, in anticipation of future elections, to tackle the inconsistencies, ambiguities and contradictory provisions in Gagauz election legislation.

These December 2006 Bashkan elections resulted in a change of leadership in the region. Changing of government through free and fair elections is a genuine feature of a functioning democracy and we commend the incumbent authorities for respecting the will of the voters expressed in the first and second rounds of elections.
In our judgment, these elections represented an improvement over previous elections in the region and prove that strong regional autonomy can exist within a democratic, sovereign, and territorially whole Republic of Moldova. We urge the Moldovan authorities to build on this example for future elections.

CHISINAU, 21 December 2006

Embassy of Republic of Bulgaria
Embassy of the Czech Republic
Embassy of France
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Embassy of the Republic of Hungary
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania
Embassy of the Republic of Poland
Embassy of Romania
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Embassy of the United States of America
Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Moldova
Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
OSCE Mission to Moldova