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On Thursday, 21 June, 2018, Promo-LEX Association presented the annual reports on  Financing of political parties in the Republic of Moldova.  2017 retrospective  and Implementation of the Strategic Plans of the Central Electoral Commission and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training. 2017 retrospective. The event was attended by members of political parties, representatives of state institutions, civil society, etc.

Financing of political parties in the Republic of Moldova, 2017

According to the Promo-LEX Association, both the legislation on political parties and the electoral legislation are still defective in 2017.  Similar to the concerns and demands found in the opinion of Venice Commission of 7 December 2017, Promo-LEX identified the same deficiencies in banning donations from Moldovans working outside the country; high level of annual ceilings for donations to political parties made by individuals and legal entities; lack of supervision and enforcement of rules governing the funding of political parties.

Although the Association notes a breakthrough in party reporting on their financial management in 2017, it has registered limited access to the completeness of financial information, including due to the imperfection of the model of financial reporting proposed by the CEC. Lack of such expenditure categories as “political consultancy”, “rewards for volunteers and agitators”, “street panels expenses”, “e-advertising expenses”, “promotional advertising expenses” allow reporting subjects to generalize the data, minimizing the transparency of spending that falls under these categories.

Cornelia Calin, financial analyst said: “Following the civic monitoring during 2017, Promo-LEX monitors identified the failure of political parties to accurately report their real spending and estimated undeclared expenses of at least 42,748,397 lei.”

“The cases reported and the phenomenon of abuse of administrative resources by the parties are worrying. According to interviews, at least 2 political parties (PDM and PSRM) abused of such resources in 2017,” the Promo-LEX expert adds.

The report contains recommendations for the legislature, electoral authorities, political parties, and other parties concerned. The most important recommendations are:

To the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova:

• Inclusion of express provisions requiring the CEC to publish data on the granted amount, donor’s identity (name and surname of the person, full name of the organization and its form), place of residence and occupation, or type of work, or type of activity, both from the annual financial reports, as well as from the semi-annual ones, including from their Annexes.
• Exclusion of the provision prohibiting financing of election campaigns and political parties by Moldovan citizens that are temporarily based abroad.

To the Central Electoral Commission:

• Standardization of the format of the Reports on party financial management with the Reports on the financing of election campaigns.

In the second report, Implementing the Strategic Plans of the Central Electoral Commission and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CICDE), Promo-LEX assessed the activities carried out by the CEC and CICDE during 2017 through the provisions of the Strategic Plans and annual reports.

To achieve the objectives set, in 2017, the CEC proposed to put in place 35 actions (2 less than in 2016), which corresponds to the provisions of the Strategic Plan of the CEC. In the opinion of the Promo-LEX Association, which is based on the analysis of documents relevant to CEC’s activity, in 2017, the institution managed to fulfill 51.43% of all the activities planned, in full and, partially, 20.00% of the total activities planned. 28.57% of activities were not executed.

According to the Promo-LEX analyst Mariana Focsa, the best results were achieved by the CEC in increasing transparency in the work of election bodies, as well as in improving electoral management and strengthening institutional capacity. On the other hand, unsatisfactory results were recorded in the development and implementation of the SIAS “Elections” System, as well as in the transparency of funding of political parties and election campaigns.

To achieve the objectives of the CICDE Strategic Plan, 29 activities were planned for 2017 (5 less than in 2016). According to Promo-LEX, 48.28% (14) of the activities planned were fully fulfilled during the management period, while 27.59% (8) of the activities were partially executed. 24.14% (7) of the activities were not executed.

“The best results were achieved in the implementation of actions related to the provision of diverse and innovative training services, in the field of participatory democracy organized at national and international levels. Unsatisfactory results were registered in the implementation of the activities aimed at attracting and employing a team of motivated professionals and trainers to operate in an enabling environment,” Promo-LEX election analyst says.

Following the evaluation of the activities, carried out by CEC and CICDE during 2017, Promo-LEX comes with a series of recommendations, of which we can highlight the following:

To the Central Electoral Commission

• Identify and put in practice mechanisms for enhancing mutual communication between the Central Electoral Commission – Public Services Agency, aiming at updating the data in SIAS “State Register of Voters” and SIA “State Register of Population” (prior to and after the elections).
• Identification and implementation of measures to retain, motivate and increase employees’ loyalty.

To the Center for Continuous Electoral Training

• Exclusion from the Annual Action Plans of the activities required by the legal framework, which are not planned actions, but rather rules that govern the institution’s operation.
• Identification and implementation of mechanisms for motivation and retention of trainers.

Annual Reports on  Financing of political parties in the Republic of Moldova.  2017 retrospective  and Implementation of the Strategic Plans of the Central Electoral Commission and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training. 2017 retrospective have been carried out under the Program of Democracy, Transparency and Responsibility, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

For further information, please contact:
Axenia Chirilov, Promo-LEX Association Press Officer;
GSM: 060 16 83 14;
E-mail: [email protected]