Moldova anti-oligarchy fighter calls for boycott of elections, referendum

The chairperson of the party Our Home Moldova , Grigory Petrenko, responded to the Central Election Commission’s refusal to register the party for participation in the referendum which will be held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections on February 24, 2019.

[Translator’s note: In the planned referendum, voters will be asked two questions; whether the number of members of parliament (MPs) should be reduced from 101 to 61, and whether MPs should be open to recall.]

Below we publish the entire text of the statement. 

“At first, the CEC could not take any decision regarding our participation in the referendum with the ‘Boycott’ option, as the votes were divided, and there was no majority. The review was postponed to the last day.

“The second time, the CEC rejected our documents for a boycott of the referendum on formal grounds, picking on the absence of power of attorney for Alexander Roshko.

“We were ready for the CEC to do this, and at the last moment we registered a new application for participation in the referendum with the option ‘Against,’ accompanied by the requested power of attorney.

“But today the CEC once again refused the right of Our Home of Moldova to register as a referendum participant, even with the option ‘Against’!

“The CEC doubted that the power of attorney was signed by Petrenko. And in the decision it is written in black and white: ‘se pune la indoiala exprimarea liberei vointe a dlui Petrenco in vederea semnarii actului dat’! That is, in relation to the party and Petrenko, there is a presumption of guilt.

“But why then did the CEC not doubt, for example, the signatures of [oligarchs Vlad] Plahotniuc or [Ilan] Shor? Why don’t they need to to to court and defend their signatures and rights, as we now do?

“From the very beginning, we were confident that we would not be registered for participation in the referendum, despite having the right. There is a general silence around participation in the so-called elections.

“The regime itself brings to the point of absurdity everything connected with these ‘elections’ and ‘referendum.’ By our actions we only confirm and expose all the falsehood, lack of integrity and insanity of this ‘electoral process.’

“We will see this performance through to the end! We’ll sue against the decision of the CEC. Let’s see how they will prove that my signature is not really mine.

“Only BOYCOTT!”

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Petrenko: Follow our actions!

The general boycott of the elections is the way to overthrow the criminal regime of Plahotniuc. This opinion was shared by the chair of the opposition party Our Home Moldova, Grigory Petrenko. He wrote about this on his Facebook page.

Below we publish the full text of the statement. 

“I’ve repeatedly spoken out about the upcoming so-called elections, urging the opposition leaders to personally and publicly boycott these cockroach races under the patronage of Plahotniuc.

“Today it’s obvious that the parties that consider themselves to be the opposition have decided to play in this predetermined match, knowing full well that this is not a legitimate election.

“They each have different goals. The pro-Putin ‘Socialists’ [Party of Socialists, headed by President Igor Dodon], who imitate opposition activities, have the task of maintaining the status quo (for this, together with Plahotniuc, they changed the electoral system). The leaders of the openly pro-Western ACUM Bloc have one task — to get into Parliament and get at least 25 mandates.

“Both of them, with their participation, have resigned themselves to the violation of the recommendations of the Venice Commission of the OSCE / ODIHR on the inadmissibility of changing the electoral system (if desired, it can be replaced by the EU and the U.S.).

“Both of them, by their participation in the elections, consciously ensure the legitimacy of the future government of Plahotniuc and recognition of the elections (albeit with reservations) by the international community.

“For some, securing seats in Parliament is more important than the overthrow of the criminal regime. After all, no one seriously believes that a dictatorship can be overthrown by parliamentary elections, do they?

“We have called for and will continue to call for a boycott of undemocratic, dishonest and unfree elections!

“I can imagine how much crap the regime and the pro-system opposition participating in these fixed elections will pour on us. For Plahotniuc’s regime, a mass boycott is a nightmare, because they need legitimacy, first and foremost.

“Starting tomorrow, we will expose the absurdity of everything connected with these so-called elections. Follow our actions!

“Let’s start with fake certificates of integrity. Tomorrow we’ll register lawsuits against CEC decisions issuing certificates of integrity for Shor and Plahotniuc! And this is just the beginning!

“I am sure that the general boycott of the elections is the way toward the overthrow of the criminal regime of Plahotniuc!

“There are 44 days left for the opposition, which decided to play cards with these sharps, to realize this.

“And all the complaints of those participating in the ‘elections’ about violations, spoilers, clones, illegal campaigning, withdrawing candidates, etc., I suggest sending them to the penguins of Antarctica instead of the CEC — it will be more effective. You decided to participate in this.

“Only BOYCOTT!

“We are against undemocratic, dishonest and unfree elections!”

Source

Translated by Greg Butterfield