This year’s general local elections will cost the state budget around 178 million lei. The amount was stated by the president of the Central Electoral Commission, Angelica Caraman. The head of the CEC says that although the state of emergency could be extended in the Republic of Moldova, this does not prevent the voting, as the CEC has also organized elections during the state of emergency, being an exception to the legal norm, notes ipn.md.
According to the new Electoral Code, entered into force at the beginning of this year, general local elections will be organized either on the last Sunday of October, or on the first Sunday of November
“The exact date is to be set by the CEC before 70 days until the election day. We wanted this provision to exist in the Electoral Code, in order to have predictability, for people to prepare for the elections, knowing the period in which the date of the elections will be called. The estimated budget for the general local elections is 178 million lei, 80% of the amount is for the salaries of the members of the electoral bodies. In the state budget law, 154 million lei were allocated to us, when the budget is rectified, the amount could be increased because there will be expenses necessary for the organization of the second round”, said Angelica Caraman during the “Parallel 47” show on Radio Moldova .
Although previously the governor of the Gagauz autonomy, Irina Vlah, said that the government would intend to postpone the local elections, invoking the state of emergency, the head of the CEC says that the institution is preparing for the voting, and there are no discussions regarding a possible postponement.
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“We held three electoral exercises during the emergency period, the elections in the fall of 2021, the elections in the spring and fall of 2022, with the rigorous rectification of the Parliament’s decision. The state of emergency law specifies the impossibility of holding elections, but when the state of emergency does not directly affect the electoral exercise, an exception has been applied. I don’t know about a possible postponement”, said the president of the Central Electoral Commission.
The first round of the last local elections took place on October 20, 2019. According to the law, local elected officials have a mandate of 4 years.