CNA officers are raiding the Comrat Electoral Council: Evghenia Guțul could be recognized as bashcan by the Comrat People's Assembly
Officers from the CNA are raiding the offices of the Electoral Council in Comrat. The spokesperson of the CNA, Angela Starinschi, told moldova1.md that "criminal prosecution actions are taking place in the case of voter corruption". It happens after the authority announced the final results of the elections for the position of mayor of the Gagauz autonomy, which show the winner of the "Sor" Party candidate, Evghenia Guțul.
**UPDATE 20:30 ** The president of the People's Assembly of the autonomy Dmitrii Constantinov and the members of the executive committee of the Gagauz region came to the protest action. They proposed convening the Great Assembly in the autonomy, a decision in this sense to be adopted during the meeting of the People's Assembly, which met in an extraordinary session. Also, a statement of the People's Assembly could be adopted by which Evghenia Guțul would be recognized as the Bashcan of the Gagauz autonomy. .
UPDATE 18:34 CNA provides details about the raids.
"The basis of the action is the reasonable suspicion regarding the inclusion in the voter lists of deceased persons who are outside the country and voting on their behalf. Thus, following the execution of criminal prosecution actions in the criminal case regarding the illegal financing of the electoral campaign and the corruption of voters, a reasonable suspicion emerged that some of the voters were brought from other districts in an organized manner in order to vote for the candidate from the "Sor" Political Party . In the same way, according to the published information, among the voters who cast their vote in favor of the candidate Guțul Evghenia, there are people who are outside the borders of the Republic of Moldova and deceased people. Actions are ongoing," reads the CNA press release.
UPDATE 17:30 According to the regional media, this evening there will be an extraordinary meeting of the People's Assembly of the Gagauz Autonomous Region. Meanwhile, more and more people are gathering in front of the Electoral Council.
In a press release, the "Şor" Party claims that the purpose of the searches would be to confiscate the minutes so that they are not sent to the Comrat Court of Appeal for validation. On the other hand, the gagauzinfo.md portal writes that they have already been submitted to the court. The same source states that CNA representatives handed the members of the Electoral Council of Comrat summonses to appear for hearings at the CNA on May 18.
We note that, also today, the Central Electoral Commission announced that following the verification of the financial reports of the eight candidates for the position of mayor, it found that more than 100 individuals donated money to the candidates exceeding the maximum ceiling established by law, in the amount of 11,700 lei. According to the CEC, the candidate of the Şor Party, Evghenia Guțul, would have obtained the largest amount of money - almost 460 thousand lei, from 65 people. Victor Petrov follows - over 436 thousand lei and Grigore Uzun about 184 thousand lei.
The vice-president of the Central Electoral Commission, Pavel Postică, explained to Radio Moldova that the electoral authority from Comrat did not adjust its regulations in accordance with the provisions of the national legislation. The Central Electoral Commission will hear the candidates and donors, including deputies, who allegedly violated the law, said Pavel Postică.
