In the preliminary elections of February 24, 2019, the Roma community is represented by three candidates who all run in the national constituency, and none of these is a woman. Twenty-two Roma women were involved in electoral activities only as members of electoral offices. The data were presented by Elena Sîrbu, president of the Platform of Roma Women “ROMNI”, and were include in a monitoring report on the involvement of the Roma in the upcoming elections that was presented in a news conference at IPN.

According to Elena Sîrbu, the Platform she represents is preoccupied with the problems faced by the community of Roma women in Moldova, including their participation in politics. The 22 Roma women who are members of electoral officers were fielded due to their posts as most of these work as community mediators. One woman of Roma ethnicity is a local councilor. “We see double discrimination in the community and in the entire society. We need a positive measure that would eliminate or would stop this discrimination,” stated Elena Sîrbu.

The president of the Platform of Roma Women “ROMNI” recommended the political parties to be more open and to offer the Roma women the possibility of entering the lists of candidates. “In the international conference of Roma women that was held in Strasbourg in 2016, recommendations were formulated for Moldova, but none of these was taken into consideration. We are concerned about fact that the Roma women are not represented. Only one Roma woman serves as a local councilor, which is not at all enough,” stated Elena Sîrbu

She also said that a number of international organizations, including NGOs, instruct Roma women in leadership, but such initiatives do not have a continuation as these woman do not enjoy opportunities of becoming involved in the political life in the country.

Marin Alla, of the Coalition “Voice of the Roma”, recommended the Government and the parties to be more open. He reminded that the Government undertook to create an agency that would deal with the problems of the Roma, but didn’t do it.

Marin Alla also called on the Roma communities to be more active. Since the independence, no person of Roma ethnicity held posts in the Government or Parliament.