Moldovan authorities on October 4 reinforced a ban on members of an outlawed Russia-backed party taking part in upcoming local elections, in effect reversing the Constitutional Court's decision a day earlier that had scrapped the interdiction.
Moldova's Exceptional Situations Committee (CSE) decided that members of the Shor Party who are charged, indicted, or even under suspicion of committing criminal acts will not be allowed to run in the polls, scheduled for November 5.
The CSE, which is led by Prime Minister Dorin Recean and comprises several cabinet members as well as intelligence agency chiefs and prominent lawmakers, was initially established to deal with the emergency situation declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Constitutional Court, which had outlawed the Shor Party in June amid moves by Moldova to reduce Russia's influence, ruled on October 3 that legislation approved by lawmakers in July banning party members from running for office for five years was unconstitutional.
The court's decision came following a complaint against the ban by members of the disbanded party, which was headed by exiled businessman Ilan Shor, who is accused by the West and the Moldovan government of trying to destabilize the country.
Wedged between Ukraine, Romania, and the Black Sea, Moldova has often found itself in the center of a struggle for influence between Moscow and the West.
The situation has intensified since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, especially with the Kremlin-backed breakaway region of Transdniester on its eastern border. Russia still keeps more than 1,000 troops in Transdniester as "peacekeepers."
The United States in June imposed sanctions on seven members of a group linked to Shor for their alleged roles in Moscow's campaign to destabilize Moldova and instigate an insurrection.
Shor, who is suspected of involvement in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes, fled to Israel following the election of Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu in 2020.
From abroad, he has organized months of anti-government protests with the aim of toppling Sandu and the reformist government that has been critical of Russia's war in Ukraine, RFE/RL reports.
