The mayor has found a solution for discouraging a new anomaly in his city: “We have 1,000 people from Bessarabia in a single apartment.”
There is an absurd record in the city of Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Suceava county. The mayor of the city announced that there are apparently 1,000 people from the Republic of Moldova at a single address.
In one apartment in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, there are apparently 1,000 people. All of the temporary residents are Bessarabians who officially “have a place to stay” in order to get Romanian citizenship. The announcement was made by mayor Mihăiţă Negură, who explained that the 1,000 citizens of the Republic of Moldova are also on the permanent voting lists, but they don’t vote because they don’t actually live at the address that appears on their identity card.
“In Câmpulung Moldovenesc, just as in other localities, we are greatly concerned by the residence of some Bessarabian citizens, about 1,000, at a single address. This affects the participation rate of voters in elections. According to our research, none of the 1,000 people voted in Câmpulung,” the mayor told local press. He added that last year, he sent a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to inform them of the problem and ask for a solution. The response he received indicated that, although 1,000 people living under one roof is against logic, it is legally possible.
Bessarabia is a historical region in Central Europe, with a sizeable Romanian community whose territory is currently a part of the Republic of Moldova.
The issue of hundreds of temporary residents living at a single address is not just a problem in Câmpulung Moldovenesc. Before the local elections, the City Hall of Suceava was forced to identify new spaces for voting departments in the area around the train station, CFR Burdujeni, because the number of people from Moldova and Ukraine who were living — only on paper — at different addresses had surpassed the limit of 2,000 per voting department.
“The practice from other regions of the country has made it to us as well. There are people who have come from Moldova and Ukraine who need a permanent address for citizenship. It was evident from the investigation that was made that many people who are registered as living in studio flats do not actually live there and most probably do not participate in elections, but we are obliged to take measures not to surpass 2,000 voters for a single voting department,” said Mayor of Suceava Ion Lungu before the elections.
Because the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not have the intention of adopting measures to correct these anomalies, the mayor of Câmpulung Moldovenesc has come up with his own solution: He wants to make the 1,000 people from Moldova who appear to live in the same apartment pay and will make a proposal regarding this to the new Local Council.
Featured photo: Câmpulung Moldovenesc (Wikipedia)
