The Statement of civil society organizations on the procedure for nominating and selecting candidates for membership of the Central Election Commission

The civil society organizations state the delayed publishing, on the official web page of the Parliament,  of the list of the candidates for the membership of the Central Electoral Commission(CEC), appointed by the parliamentary majority and the opposition. In this context, the signatory organizations draw attention on the fact that the mandate of the members of CEC expired on 11 February 2016 and the Speaker of the Parliament initiated the selection of the new members on 18 March.

Unfortunately, the information on the candidates was published today, on 13 April 2016 and the Committee on Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities on the same day endorsed the list of the candidates. In our opinion, this is not a transparent process. The civil society and the general public did not have the opportunity to follow the process at issue and to analyze the compliance of the candidates with the requirements provided for in the Electoral Code and the Law NO. 199 as of 16.07.2010 „ on the status of the persons performing responsible state positions”.

Therewith, the civil society draws the attention on the lack of information regarding the candidate for the CEC membership to be appointed by the President.

The transparent contest –based selection, grounded on principles of meritocracy and political nonpartisanship of the CEC members, by the parliamentary majority and opposition shall be deemed an important step for enhancing the independency and the professionalism of the CEC members, and the institution itself. In this context, the signatory organizations are concerned about the refusal of the Parliament to support certain previously presented legislative initiatives aiming at ensuring a selection process based on clear principles of meritocracy and transparency of the candidates to CEC membership.

In the light of the above, the signatory organizations, even after the endorsement of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities, request the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the President of the country to organize public consultations in order to identify the candidates for CEC membership, in compliance with the following principles: clear procedures and requirements for selecting the candidates, sufficient time for the application of the potential candidates, clear requirements for the potential candidates, transparency in the selection process, consultations and the involvement of the civil society in the selection process and justification of the decision on selection.

The signatory organizations consider that the political influence on the CEC members’ selection process at this stage shall be reduced at maximum and totally excluded from the further CEC activity.

It this respect, we deem as inadmissible the recommendation of the Speaker of the Parliament, expressed publicly on 18 March 2016, regarding the opportunity to offer the position of the Chairperson of CEC to the parliamentary opposition.

We reiterate the point that pursuant the electoral legislation, the Chairperson of CEC shall be selected by the new members, and any interference, especially from the political environment, shall directly point at the fact that the future CEC members could be subsequently politically influences in the activity thereof. ,

The parties to this document request:

1. The Parliament Republic Moldova – to ensure the transparency of the procedure of appointing the candidates for the CEC membership and to eliminate the political influence in the process of selecting the CEC Chairperson;
2. The President of the Republic of Moldova – ensuring the transparency of the procedure of appointing the candidate for CEC membership on behalf of the President.

Contact person: Ion Manole, Facilitator of the National Platform of EaP CSF, Executive Director Promo-LEX Association, tel. 022450024, GSM: 069070800, e-mail promolex.pr@gmail.com.