Magistrates of the Orhei District Court, Central Headquarters, rejected the administrative dispute action filed by the candidate of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) for mayor of Orhei municipality, Sergiu Stanciu, against the Orhei District Electoral Council No. 25 and the Orhei Municipality Electoral Council No. 25/1. He requested the declaration of “nullity of the election results” and the exclusion from the electoral race of the candidate for mayor of Orhei municipality, Tatiana Cociu, supported by the oligarch Ilan Shor, who won the post in the first round of elections.

The decision is subject to appeal to the Chisinau Court of Appeal within three days from the date of the decision, through the Orhei Court of Appeal, central office.

The document states that Sergiu Stanciu submitted to the court a set of photo and video materials which, according to the plaintiff, would serve as grounds for the annulment of the registration of Tatiana Cociu as an electoral contestant.

“(…) The Court notes that the facts invoked in the action for an injunction do not fall within the grounds for annulment of the registration provided for in Article 102 para. (5) of the Electoral Code. However, the court was not presented with evidence under the provisions of Article 54 para. (7) of the Electoral Code, namely the findings of the competent bodies that would support the criticisms invoked by the applicant and that would prove the violation of the legal provisions established in art. 54 para. (6) item a) namely by “the electoral subject, as expressly stipulated in art. 54 para. (6) of the Electoral Code (…)”, the judgment states.

On November 12, 2023, the petition of the candidate of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) for the position of mayor of Orhei municipality, Sergiu Stanciu, on the declaration of “nullity of the election results, given the violations committed that led to the influence of the voting results”, was rejected by the Electoral Council of the Orhei electoral district.

According to the decision, the complaint was rejected as “unfounded and inadmissible”.

The candidate of the ruling party had also requested the issuance of a decision ordering the organization, within two weeks, of repeated elections for mayor of Orhei municipality and local council, with the exclusion of the electoral competitor of the political party Forta de Alternativa și de Salvare a Moldovei (FASM) and the candidate for mayor of Orhei municipality, Tatiana Cociu, who won the post in the first round of elections. Contacted at the time by ZdG, Stanciu said he would “go further, because there are multiple and obvious violations.”

Tatiana Cociu, candidate of the Alternative and Salvation Force of Moldova party won the first round of the Orhei mayoral election. She took 57.59% of the vote, according to preliminary data from the Central Electoral Commission after counting all the votes in Orhei.

In second place was PAS candidate Sergiu Stanciu with 17%.

After the exclusion from the electoral race of the “Chance” party candidates by the decision of the Commission for Exceptional Situations, the party’s president, Alexei Lungu, who was running in Orhei, urged his supporters to vote for Tatiana Cociu.