U.S. refuses to call Moldova's elections free or fair

In an official statement, the U.S. Embassy takes it upon itself to harshly criticise shortcomings in Moldova's latest elections

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Following the fraud-ridden elections in Moldova which were held on 3 June 2007, the United States Embassy to Chisinau, Moldova, has issued an official statement criticizing their lack of democratic conditions. In the view of the American observers, the election was marred by abuse and it is not being classified as neither free nor fair.

In its press release, the embassy expresses concern over what it sees as "widespread and apparently valid complaints regarding intimidation of candidates." A cowed and weakened opposition has pointed to official state intimidation of dissidents by the ruling Communist Party regime in Chisinau, led by Vladimir Voronin who was a former General and head of the dreaded MSSR Interior Ministry police forces in the Soviet Union.

Equally bad for democracy was the "unequal access to and coverage in the media for all parties," which the United States criticizes because it has the effect of silencing opposition. Prior to the election, Moldova's government intervened in critical radio and TV stations, took over their management, changed their programming, and engaged in indirect censorship. What was formerly a relatively open media climate in Moldova has now reverted to overt state control.

How to steal an election

The embassy criticism lists a litany of electoral abuses, reading like a virtual training manual for how to steal an election.

In addition to intimidation of dissidents, the United States also point to Moldova's misuse of administrative resources in the election campaign. This puts the incumbent ruling party at an advantage. A similar criticism was raised internally in Transdniestria, leading to a reform of campaign finance and the PMR electoral code earlier this week. No such reform has taken place in Moldova.

The Americans also cite reports of improper campaigning near voting stations in Moldova, and points to government bias in favor of ruling-party candidates.

The biggest indication of fraud, however, lies in the numerous irregularities in voter lists. This, too, is mentioned by the U.S. Embassy and it has been pointed out by the losing opposition parties the the winner - the ruling Communist Party - have produced up to 600,000 "ghost voters" by using the names of Moldovan expatriate guest workers to create fictious votes for the ruling party.

" - Similarly, we remain concerned about elements of the Electoral Code which are ambiguous and therefore difficult to enforce," said the U.S. Embassy in its statement in a reference to partisanship and selective use of the law which favors the ruling Communist authorities.

Transdniestria not part of nationwide Moldova

The U.S. Embassy does not mention the fact that these elections did not take place in Transdniestria (officially, the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, or PMR).

" - Considering their lack of democratic standards, this was probably a good thing," says Petru Glachi, a local civil society activist in Tiraspol.

Since Transdniestria declared independence in 1990, the region has been outside the control of Moldova which limits itself to repeating its territorial claim at regular intervals and citing a so-called "territorial integrity" which for all practical purposes is fictitious since Moldova has been wholly unable to enforce it ever since it declared independence as the Republic of Moldova in 1991.

In its official statement, issued 8 June 2007, the United States Embassy in Chisinau referred to "Moldova's nationwide elections which were held 3 June 2007", thus acknowledging that Transdniestria - where no elections were held on that date - are 'de facto' not part of a nationwide Moldova.

See also:
» Moldova elections not free and fair, opposition protests
» Moldova voters expect massive fraud in Sunday's elections
» Campaign finance reform brings PMR in line with Western standards