SCJ overrules Gagauzia CEC disbandment; Elections restored
The decision of the People's Assembly from 2023, which led to the disbandment of the Gagauzia Central Electoral Commission (CEC) as a permanent and active body, has been annulled.
The final ruling in this process was rendered by the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) of Moldova, through a decision pronounced on November 27.
In December 2023, the People's Assembly (APG) of Gagauzia, at the initiative of the then-President, Dmitri Constantinov, amended the region's Electoral Code, limiting the mandate of the Central Electoral Commission exclusively to the electoral period: from the day the election date is published until the final results are confirmed by the competent bodies.
The Comrat Territorial Office of the State Chancellery contested the decision in court, arguing that, through these amendments, the People's Assembly had essentially deprived the inhabitants of Gagauzia of the right to initiate referendums, thus violating their constitutional rights.
It was also noted that the contested decision failed to provide the grounds upon which the CEC President of Gagauzia could order the dismissal of the regional electoral entity's staff.
On June 5, 2024, the Comrat Court of Appeal upheld the administrative contentious action filed by the Comrat Territorial Office of the State Chancellery against the People's Assembly. Subsequently, the Gagauzia legislature filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Justice.
Through the judgment issued on November 27, 2025, the SCJ dismissed the People's Assembly's appeal as inadmissible, thereby maintaining the decision of the Comrat Court of Appeal from June of last year.
Consequently, the amendments made to the Gagauzia Electoral Code are considered null and void.
The mandate of the current composition of the People's Assembly expired on November 12 of the current year, and the 2023 decision had led to the impossibility of organizing elections for the region's new deputies within the term stipulated by law—by the first Sunday after the mandate's expiration, i.e., by November 16.
During the session on November 27, Gagauzia deputies set the election for the People's Assembly to take place on March 22, 2026.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
