MOSCOW, December 2 (Sputnik) — Media ownership has affected the access of voters to balanced information during the recent parliamentary elections in Moldova, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said.
"The media overall enabled contestants to convey messages to the electorate, and offered voters diverse campaign information. However, significant ownership concentration of broadcast media and their association with political actors influence editorial freedom and result in self-censorship, impacting voter access to balanced information," the OSCE statement on the November 30 elections in Moldova read.
While public televisions and radio were in compliance with free airtime and debate organization, the public broadcasters and Pro TV Chisinau covered the election campaign "in a balanced manner", according to the OSCE.
The organization also noted that "investigative and analytical reporting was limited."
The OSCE noted that Moldova failed to incorporate into the country's Election Code several proposals on the financing of parties and campaigns as well as gender quotas for party lists.
"Additionally, the requirements for media ownership disclosure are yet to be addressed in the broader legal framework," read the statement.
An election to fill the 101 seats in Moldova's parliament took place on November 30. With the 90 percent of the votes already tallied, the country's Socialist Party have so far had a 21.61-percent lead over the rest of the parties. Second in Sunday's elections came the Liberal-Democratic Party, which has so far received 19.29 percent of the votes. The Communist Party has secured 17.84 percent as yet.
In all, parties seeking closer integration with the European Union have recorded a narrow lead over those favoring stronger relationships with Russia – 44 percent against 40 percent.
