CHISINAU. May 17 (Interfax) - The Moldovan government will not tolerate violations of the law in any elections, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said against the backdrop of a conflict around the elections for the head of the Gagauz Autonomous Region.
"The head of Gagauzia should be elected consistent with the laws of the Republic of Moldova and the laws of the autonomous region. This is how it will be. Therefore, I am asking everyone to stay calm and let government agencies do their job, each at their own level. Problems and violations have been documented and will be presented to a court, which will make a decision," Recean said at the beginning of a government meeting on Wednesday.
He also said that the Moldovan authorities would keep working with the autonomous region and every elected official who represents the interests of Moldovan citizens.
"What we will not do is work with people who represent different interests. Every time we see that someone is trying to evade the agenda which meets citizens' interests, law enforcement agencies will act in the appropriate manner," Recean said.
He said he had invited the heads of districts, the incumbent head of Gagauzia, and the mayors of Chisinau and Balti to meet on Wednesday.
The Gagauz Central Elections Commission confirmed the results of the Gagauz leadership election on Tuesday. Shor Party candidate Yevgenia Gutsul won the runoff election on Sunday.
The parliament held an urgent meeting after Moldova's National Anti-Corruption Center (NAC) searched the Gagauz Central Elections Commission on suspicion of "illegal funding of the election campaign." Documents and lists of voters were seized.
The NAC searched the premises of the Gagauz Central Elections Commission and seized a number of documents and voter lists. "The NAC and the National Inspectorate of Investigations, under the direction of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, is seizing voter lists from the premises of the Comrat court. Law enforcement officers suspect that certain deceased citizens and people residing abroad were included in voter lists, and third parties voted in their name," it said in a statement.