The use of administrative resources, promotion from abroad and the spread of manipulative information about the alleged “abolition of autonomy” are among the incidents and violations reported by Promo-LEX ahead of the elections in Gagauzia. The monitoring covered the period from July 3 to November 13, 2026.
Observers documented 293 activities involving signature collection, online promotion or participation in public events. They identified 14 cases that could be classified as the use of administrative resources, “including taking credit for public investments, using institutional channels for promotion, and involving public officials and elected local representatives in activities with electoral overtones.”
“Examples include the redistribution of 1.53 million lei between electoral constituencies during the election period and the promotion of Copceac Mayor Oleg Garizan’s candidacy on the Copceac City Hall’s page.
“The monitoring identified the promotion of candidates through influencers, anonymous pages and sponsored advertisements. The ‘Omega Jurnal’ page ran at least 24 advertisements in Russian in support of Fiodor Gagauz, while the ‘pravda.md’ page and accounts belonging to presenter Nina Dimoglo consistently promoted his candidacy. According to Meta data, the administrators of ‘Omega Jurnal’ are reportedly located in Indonesia and Ukraine,” the report states.
Messages about the alleged “abolition of autonomy”, the suppression of the Russian language and cultural identity, the illegitimacy of the elections and alleged interference by the European Union became more frequent. Promo-LEX also identified coordinated efforts to promote Ivanna Köksal and materials published by accounts with no declared authorship targeting Alexandr Stoianoglo.
Other messages portrayed rules concerning disguised candidates and knowledge of the Romanian language as instruments of political exclusion.
“The narrative about the alleged ‘abolition of autonomy’ was promoted by at least 70 accounts, generating 7,444 reactions, 3,154 comments and 1,428 shares. Consequently, the recommendation to the electoral authorities is to monitor both the online and offline environments to identify the involvement of third parties or coordinated inauthentic behaviour and assess their impact on the electoral process,” the observers further noted.
According to the report, the accessibility of electoral bodies’ offices remains a problem. Of the three constituency electoral councils, only the one in Comrat has access facilities for people with mobility disabilities.
Promo-LEX also recommends transferring the authority to accredit election observers to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). This responsibility was taken over exclusively by the regional electoral body, which was established after the election period had begun. As a result, it was not possible to conduct accredited observation at every stage of the process, the organisation’s representatives noted.
Regarding gender equality, observers pointed out that women account for only 17% of candidates for seats in the People’s Assembly — 23 out of 135 candidates. Political parties are also advised to strengthen their presence and territorial structures in the autonomous region ahead of future elections.
Most independent candidates collected enough signatures to qualify.
“Three people are running simultaneously for the position of Bashkan and for a seat in the People’s Assembly. The election of the same person to both positions could make it necessary to organise a new election. […]
“During the monitoring period, at least four complaints and appeals were identified concerning electoral campaigning, administrative resources, candidates’ domicile and candidate registration. Electoral bodies rejected appeals, declared some applications inadmissible or examined them as notifications, without confirming the alleged violations. Promo-LEX emphasises the need for Parliament to harmonise the requirements concerning candidates’ domicile and residence for elections to the People’s Assembly, clarifying situations in which these are located in different constituencies,” the observers noted.
As of October 13, 14 of the 92 independent candidates for the People’s Assembly had announced the opening of an “Electoral Fund” account, but none had declared any expenditure. Nevertheless, Promo-LEX estimated that campaign spending had taken place, with funds used for advertising, video spots, transport, events and the value of volunteer work.