Authorities' decision to reduce the number of polling stations in Russia could pose a dangerous precedent, warns Promo-LEX
The decision by the authorities to open only two polling stations in the Russian Federation, instead of five, as originally decided by the Central Election Commission (CEC), could set a dangerous precedent that future polititians could exploit. The statement was made by Nicolae Panfil, program director of the "Promo-LEX" Association, which monitors the October 20 elections, for Teleradio-Moldova.
There must be transparent collaboration between state institutions, and the situation created around the polling stations for the Russian Federation denotes a lack of communication and trust between the institutions involved, the CEC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) and the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) ), considers Nicolae Panfil.
"We saw this situation, we also reflected it in the report and we were concerned about such an outcome or such behavior, because normally there must be collaboration between state institutions, and this case is also provided by the Electoral Code express who and what roles has. (….) It is a problem that denotes that this issue, which we have known for so long to be quite sensitive and which can be easily politicized without too many arguments, without too many details from the MAE, SIS raises suspicions that this decision not to identify enough people for other three polling stations was not fully or completely justified. They were not in Kursk, in other regions close to the war zone, they were in St. Petersburg, in other areas further away. It is difficult to explain this and I think the MAE and the SIS must give the strict explanations".
Nicolae Panfil, head of the Observation Mission for the October 20 elections on behalf of Promo-LEX, highlighted that the reduction in the number of polling stations in Russia could be used in the future, as a pretext for other similar decisions, by the politicians at power, if there is no total transparency from the authorities.
"We believe it can be a dangerous precedent, but, again, this will depend again on those who will continue to be at power, because every time the argument can be made that we don't have the capacity, we don't have the people, we must keep in mind that security is and must be a priority, and they are responsible for informing the MAE and our embassies in the respective countries accordingly. In this context, we reiterate, once again, the importance of open and transparent communication between institutions, so that it is clear why and under what conditions polling stations were or were not opened in one country or another. Only in this way, will we be able to understand what were the reasons that determined a decision".
Although Promo-LEX recognizes the importance of prioritizing security, Nicolae Panfil claims that the lack of clear explanations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Intelligence and Security Service leaves room for political interpretations and speculation.
"Probably there is also the political aspect, which is masked, hidden under security concerns, which, from what has been presented for the public, has not been very convincing. Considering that we still have a large number of citizens in the Russian Federation, I think they should have been much more open, much more transparent. If certain circumstances cannot ensure optimal security conditions for the conduct of the electoral process, we should know what they consist of. (...) In the end, this decision can certainly affect the electoral process, and this can also bring with it certain perceptions that are not necessarily true, that the decisions were politically influenced, etc."
We remind you that, on the eve, the CEC announced that it had destroyed 26 thousand ballot papers that were to be sent to polling stations in Russia for the presidential elections and the republican constitutional referendum. The decision was taken after the MAE maintained its recommendation to open only two polling stations – both in Moscow – citing security reasons, based on the SIS opinion.
In a comment for Teleradio-Moldova, CEC chairperson Pavel Postica said that the MAE failed to identify either buildings or personnel for establishing three more polling stations in Saint Petersburg, Yaroslavl and Surgut towns, as requested CEC, whose decisions are binding.
Contacted for comment, SIS representatives said they could not comment on the matter. We also tried to contact the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mihai Popșoi, but he did not answer our calls. We remind you that in this context on October 2, the head of diplomacy from Chisinau declared that the authorities had "a uniform approach" for all three countries in "complicated security situations" - the Russian Federation, Israel and Ukraine.
"By virtue of the complex security situation, we can ensure an effective and safe process for our citizens who will come to vote in the capital (reg. no.: Moscow), where there is consular protection, and given that we cannot admit dangers for our citizens, we are not able to organize elsewhere, or the resources are limited and the security conditions do not offer this opportunity, I reiterate in the conditions of the opinion we have from the Information and Security Service", said Minister Mihai Popsoi.
We remind that the number of polling stations was reduced, this year, for the Russian Federation, from 17 to 5. The decision was harshly criticized by the Kremlin, but also by the pro-Russian parties in Chisinau. Most polling stations - 60 - will be open to the Italian diaspora.
