Twenty of the 40 judges on the Chisinau Court of Appeals resigned in early May, days before the Vetting Commission was scheduled to begin examining judges and their immediate family members’ personal finances for signs of potential corruption or impropriety. The Court was already understaffed due to previous resignations and 37 of 57 positions are now vacant. This marks the largest mass resignation of judges in Moldovan history, surpassing the 16 judges of the Supreme Court of Justice who resigned in February 2023, also reportedly to avoid vetting procedures. As in previous instances, the pace of judicial proceedings is expected to slow significantly as a result. The vetting process is part of the government’s work to root out corruption and bring the country’s judiciary in line with international legal standards, while judges hold it is a violation of the principle of the separation of powers.

Sources: Ziarul de Gardă, Newsmaker, Ziarul de Gardă (2)

Moldovan citizens living abroad in Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States will now be able to vote by mail, per legislation passed by the country’s parliament on 26 April. The criteria for the availability of postal voting include having established diplomatic relations with Moldova, a lack of or significant distance from available polling stations, national experience in implementing postal voting, the reliability of postal services, and more. 212,434 of 2.6 million Moldovans of voting age participated in the 2021 elections from abroad by voting in person at Moldovan embassies or consulates. Presidential elections are due to be held on 20 October 2024.

Sources: Ziarul de Gardă, Moldpres, Parliament of Moldova, International IDEA

Moldovan prosecutors filed corruption charges against Evgenia Gusul, the Bashkan (governor) of the autonomous region of Gaugazia in a Chisinau court on 24 April. Gutsul is alleged to have overseen the financing of the Shor Party by Russia-based organized criminal groups as the party’s secretary between 2019 and 2022 and faces between two and seven years in prison. The Shor Party was banned by the Constitutional Court in June 2023 and its members barred from seeking public office in July 2023 by an act of parliament (both bans have since been reversed on judicial appeal). Gutsul says the charges are politically motivated on the orders of President Maia Sandu. Since being elected Bashkan in July 2023, Gutsul has made an official state visit to Russia and sought to integrate the region of Gaugazia into Russian economic and political structures without the knowledge of the Moldovan central government.

Sources: Newsmaker (1), Newsmaker (2), Newsmaker (3)

The General Prosecutor competition process in Moldova was abruptly cancelled on 28 February after anomalous scores by a single member of the Special Counsel of Prosecutors (SCP) were discovered, which appeared to have decisively changed the results of the process. The office has been de facto vacant since 2021, and having a new General Prosecutor in place by March 2024 was a specific condition of the EU accession process and seen as a test of the ability of the government to go through with significant justice sector reforms. Moldova’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation to determine if Olesia Virlan, the SCP member whose anomalous scores led to the selection of Deputy Acting General Prosecutor Igor Demciucin over Acting General Prosecutor Ion Munteanu, was involved in wrongdoing. Following the revelations, the SCP removed Demciucin from his post upon accusations by Munteanu and other candidates that he and Virlan had attempted to rig the selection process.

Sources: Balkan Insight, MoldPres News Agency, Moldova Matters

Moldova’s Constitutional Court ruled on 27 March that a ban on members of the dissolved Shor Party running for parliament was unconstitutional. The Court’s ruling that dissolved the party itself and barred its leaders for running from office for five years – including Shor, who lives in Israel to avoid serving a 15-year criminal sentence – remains in force. Shor welcomed the ruling and questioned the validity of November’s local elections, which were held under the ban. The speaker of Moldova’s parliament indicated the parliament would respect the court’s ruling but “will not allow criminal groups to take control of the electoral process and undermine democracy in Moldova.”

Sources: Balkan Insight, The Insider, Politico, International IDEA

Moldova’s government let the state of emergency that had been instituted at the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lapse on 31 December 2023, after passing legislation that transferred some emergency powers to regular governments. These powers include more authority to directly manage Moldova’s energy sector and food supply, as well as allowing the government to suspend media broadcasting licenses without a court order to prevent the spread of propaganda. Domestic civil society criticized this last provision, made public only on 29 December 2023, as “a profound interference with the right to free expression” and said the lack of transparency and public inclusion in the process conflicts with Moldovan laws on public participation.

Sources: Apel, ZDG, Newsmaker

Moldova removed customs duties exemptions for companies in the breakaway republic of Transnistria that had been in place since 1997, leading to protests by the self-declared authorities in Tiraspol and marking the strongest move in Chisinau’s year-long campaign to finally bring Transnistria under its control and jurisdiction (and clamp down on rampant smuggling in years). Separatist authorities in Tiraspol raised taxes on Moldovan companies in response. The decision is part of Chisinau’s efforts to reintegrate Transnistria at a time when Russia, its patron, is preoccupied by its war on Ukraine and faces mounting challenges in supplying Transnistria with the below-market natural gas that is the financial lifeblood of the breakaway regime.

 Sources: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Balkan Insight, Carnegie Europe