Gagauzia ballot blocked: Court in Cahul suspends June 21 elections
The elections for the People's Assembly (PA) of Gagauzia, originally scheduled for June 21, 2026, were postponed once again. This follows a ruling by the Sud Court of Appeal, based in Cahul, which suspended the decisions made by the regional legislature related to the organization of the election. The decision, delivered on April 3, also affects the determination of the election date, the establishment of the electoral body, and the regulations for conducting the vote.
The court has accepted the request from the Comrat Territorial Office of the State Chancellery and ordered the suspension of all decisions adopted by the People's Assembly on March 17, 2026. These decisions included the election date, the approval of the Gagauzia Electoral Commission's composition, and the regulations for organizing the elections.
This decision is not final and can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice within 15 days.
As a result, the organization of the elections scheduled for June is now uncertain. Sergei Chernev, the head of the Territorial Office of the State Chancellery, asserts that a joint effort from central-level institutions is necessary to resolve the impasse.
"There will be a way out of the situation, and I see only one solution: the People's Assembly, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, and the Government must create conciliation commissions to analyze how these elections can be organized, based on which legislation and under what framework they will take place. We need to develop a roadmap and follow it", Chernev stated during an interview with Teleradio-Moldova.
The electoral crisis in Gagauzia has persisted for several months, primarily because local authorities refused to implement the provisions of the new Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova. They failed to organize the elections for the People's Assembly on November 16, 2025, as mandated by law.
Consequently, the elections for the People's Assembly have been caught in a cycle of postponements. Although the local legislature's mandate expired in November 2025, the elections could not be conducted on schedule. Both election dates initially set for March 22 and June 21 were subsequently canceled by court rulings.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice has informed the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova to assess the constitutionality of specific provisions in the Law on the Special Status of Gagauzia, particularly those that permit the People's Assembly to appoint its own electoral body.
At the same time, a dialogue mechanism has been established at the parliamentary level to pursue a resolution. On March 10, the Speaker of the Parliament, Igor Grosu, mandated the creation of a working group to analyze the functionality of the Gagauzia Autonomous Region within constitutional norms and examine how local legislation can be harmonized with national laws. The group is co-chaired by MP Larisa Voloh, and all parliamentary factions have appointed representatives to participate.
