Irina Vlah, leader of the Republican Party Inima Moldovei, has addressed the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, and the Secretary of the Venice Commission, Simona Granata‑Menghini, informing them about developments in the case of her party, which, according to her, has been subjected to pressure for eight months, TRIBUNA reports.

“As you know, the candidates of the Republican Party ‘Inima Moldovei’ were excluded from the parliamentary elections held on 28 September 2025, just two days before the vote, based on suspicions of illegal financing of our party. On the same grounds, the Republican Party ‘Inima Moldovei’ has had its activity restricted for eight months as a precautionary measure, even though Moldovan legislation stipulates that the substance of such cases must be examined within two months. I would like to note that the legal provisions that made possible both the exclusion of our candidates and the subsequent restriction of the party’s activity were introduced by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova into the Law on Political Parties on 14 June 2025, less than four months before the elections. The Venice Commission issued an opinion on these provisions in March of this year, stressing that restricting a party’s activity or excluding it from elections cannot be done solely on the basis of suspicions.”

She further explained that, based on these suspicions, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) launched a comprehensive financial audit of the Republican Party Inima Moldovei and of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc of Socialists, Communists, Inima and Viitorul Moldovei, of which her party was part in the September 2025 parliamentary elections.

“This audit lasted about eight months, and as a result, the Central Electoral Commission established that the suspicions of illegal financing of the Republican Party ‘Inima Moldovei’ were not confirmed. I am attaching to my letter the extensive CEC report on the financial control carried out in our case. On 29 May 2026, the report was approved by a decision of the Central Electoral Commission.”

The politician reiterated that the situation faced by the Republican Party Inima Moldovei is unprecedented.

“For the first time, the candidates of a political party were excluded from elections, and the party’s activity was restricted for a considerable period of time, based on suspicions that were later disproven. Moreover, the provisions of the Law on Political Parties that enabled this serious anti‑democratic abuse remain in force today, even though the Venice Commission issued an opinion clearly stating that restricting a party’s activity or excluding it from elections cannot be based solely on suspicions. I personally submitted a request to the President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Grosu, asking that the Venice Commission’s opinion be taken into account and that the abusive provisions be repealed, but this has not been done to this day. Keeping these provisions in force increases the risk that abuses similar to the one committed against the Republican Party ‘Inima Moldovei’ may be repeated in the future.”

Vlah stated that the Republican Party Inima Moldovei will continue to take steps to ensure that the abusive and anti‑democratic provisions in the Law on Political Parties are repealed.

“We will also submit the necessary requests to the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova to lift the restrictions imposed on our party’s activity. This is logical given that the suspicions of illegal financing have not been confirmed. In general, we believe that this unique case of the Republican Party ‘Inima Moldovei’ should form the basis of a comprehensive study showing the serious, anti‑democratic effects that abusive provisions, deliberately introduced into legislation before elections, can generate.”

She also asked the officials to continue monitoring the case of the Republican Party Inima Moldovei and the situation related to the abusive provisions in the Law on Political Parties.