Moldova election: 'Moldova Mare' barred over Russian funds
A Chișinău appeals court has rejected a challenge by the "Moldova Mare" party against the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) decision to bar it from the election.
The announcement was made public on Sunday by the party leader, Victoria Furtună, on her Facebook page.
The party's leader described the ruling as "a shameful act of political score-settling," adding that the group would continue its "fight for the people, country, and faith."
"Moldova Mare" was excluded from the parliamentary election race on the final day of the campaign by a CEC decision, adopted with six votes to three abstentions.
The CEC said the ruling was based on the use of financial resources from the Russian Federation, transferred via Promsviazbank (PSB), and the alleged offering of money and goods to voters to sway their vote. Furthermore, the electoral authority claimed the party participated in the election as part of a masked electoral bloc, alongside representatives of groups affiliated with the former convicted politician Ilan Șor, whose activities had been previously restricted by court rulings.
The decision followed complaints from the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), the National Anticorruption Center (CNA), the General Police Inspectorate (IGP) and the European Social Democratic Party (PSDE). The latter also cited a journalistic investigation published by the Nordnews portal.
The CEC also voted on Friday to bar the "Inima Moldovei" (Heart of Moldova) party, part of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), from taking part in the poll. BEP was subsequently ordered to remove members of the group led by Irina Vlah from its list of candidates for deputy within 24 hours.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
