The magistrates of the Chisinau Court of Appeal rejected on Monday, October 9, as unfounded the action for regulatory control filed by former “Shor” party MP Marina Tauber against the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CSE), which established the criteria for determining who is not entitled to run in the November 5 local elections.

Marina Tauber, who is the subject of two criminal cases brought on the grounds of knowingly accepting funding for the “Shor” party from an “organised criminal group” and “falsifying the report on the party’s financial management”, asked the Court of Appeal to annul the CSE’s decision, which expressly stated that persons who are “suspected, accused or indicted of committing offences which were mentioned by the Constitutional Court as an argument in the context of declaring the political party unconstitutional” will not be able to stand in the general local elections on 5 November. Thus, some of the representatives of the former Shor party will not be able to participate in the general local elections on 5 November.

“The action for regulatory control filed by Marina Tauber to the Commission for Exceptional Situations of the Republic of Moldova on the annulment of the Provision of the Commission for Exceptional Situations of the Republic of Moldova No. 86 of 4 October 2023 is rejected as unfounded. The judgment may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice within 30 days from the delivery of the operative part of the judgment,” the appeal court’s judgment reads.

On 4 October 2023, one day after the Constitutional Court’s decision, by way of derogation from the Electoral Code, members of the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CSE) adopted regulations banning members of the former Șor party, which was declared unconstitutional, from participating in the 5 November general local elections.

Also on the same day, the Parliament voted, at a fast pace, in first and second reading, amendments to the Electoral Code. Thus, persons who are “suspected, accused or charged of committing offences which were mentioned by the Constitutional Court as an argument in the context of the declaration of the unconstitutionality of the political party” will not be able to stand in the general local elections on 5 November.

Therefore, according to a Parliament press release, in the context of the CC’s considerations, the authors of the draft law proposed to complete the Electoral Code to clearly establish who are the persons who cannot be admitted as a contestant in the elections.

Thus, four criteria have been introduced into the law: persons are suspected, accused or indicted of committing offences that were mentioned by the Court as an argument in the context of declaring the political party unconstitutional; they were excluded from a previous election due to violation of the principle of transparent financing, and this was taken as a separate argument when declaring the political party unconstitutional; they are guilty of acts which have led to their inclusion on the international sanctions lists of international organisations or states, and this is a particular circumstance which was taken into account by the Court in the judgment declaring the party unconstitutional.

Also on 4 October, MP Marina Tauber was excluded from the electoral race for the leadership of Balti City Hall. The decision was taken by the Electoral Council of Balti Municipal Electoral District No. 2, shortly after the CSE adopted new regulations banning some members of the former “Sor” party, which was declared unconstitutional, from participating in the general local elections on 5 November.