Sancțiuni preelectorale pentru primar

09.09.2025

The reason for the complaint to the CEC was the trip that Ion Ceban, the General Mayor of Chisinau, made to Rome on August 31 of this year, where he participated in the Conference of Mayors held under the auspices of UNESCO.

PAS accuses the head of the Moldovan capital’s administration of violating the Electoral Code, given that he, as a candidate for deputy, had to suspend his work as mayor from August 29, when the election campaign began. In this regard, the PAS requires that the mayor be sanctioned under article 102 of the Electoral Code, which provides for punishment up to and including cancellation of registration for the election campaign.

In addition, the ruling party noted that Ion Ceban, who is banned from entering the Schengen area, received a special visa with restrictions from the Italian authorities and his participation in the Conference of Mayors „would not have been possible without this position.”

In turn, Ion Ceban denied the PAS’s accusations of using an administrative resource to travel to Rome. „I participated in the Conference in Rome, first of all, as a citizen. I went at my own expense. And I want to remind you how the Moldovan authorities travel all over Europe with bodyguards, using administrative resources on a large scale,” the mayor said in a video message, calling on international organizations to take action.

„Ion Ceban is making a victim of himself, while the municipality has been living without a budget for eight months, with roads that have not been repaired, hellish traffic jams and inefficient public transport. PAS insists that the mayor take care of the Chisinau municipality,” Aurica Jardan, adviser to the leader of PAS I.Grosu, commented on the statement by the head of the Moldovan capital.

As a result, the Central Election Commission, having considered the PAS complaint, issued a warning to the head of the Chisinau administration, the leader of the MAN party and the Alternative bloc, and sent his case to the General Inspectorate of Police. „Ion Ceban was admitted to the territory of the European Union as the mayor of Chisinau, not as a citizen. I believe that the use of an administrative resource has been unequivocally proven,” said Pavel Postica, Vice-Chairman of the Central Election Commission.

Recall that on July 9 of this year, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a ban on entry to the country and the entire Schengen area for the General Mayor of Chisinau. The agency clarified that the decision was made „for reasons of national security due to the recorded complicated relations between the head of the Chisinau administration and representatives of the Russian Federation.” Ion Ceban denied these accusations, calling them unfounded, and the lawyers of the Chisinau mayor filed an application with the Bucharest Court of Appeal to suspend the ban until the case is considered on the merits.

Earlier, we also told you that on March 11, 2025, Chisinau municipal councilors from the PAS faction brought rolls, fruits and towels to a meeting of the municipal council, which once again did not take place due to lack of quorum. According to the organizers of the action, Ion Ceban, the General Mayor of Chisinau, was supposed to receive this breakfast so that he could go to work, which, in their opinion, he was skipping.