Ion Ceban (born 30 June 1980) is a Moldovan politician and the current mayor of Chișinău, Moldova's capital. He is also the leader of the pro-European National Alternative Movement party (Mișcarea Alternativa Națională or MAN). Ceban was Vice President of the Parliament of Moldova in 2019 and has served as a member of parliament in three legislatures. From 2015 to 2019, he led his party's faction in the Chișinău Municipal Council. He has held different positions at the governmental level, ranging from department head to Deputy Minister.
From 2000 to 2002, Ceban worked within SAGD, where he was in charge of development at the Chisinau Mayoralty. From 2002 to 2004, he was the director of the projects department of the Government Information Network. From 2004 to 2005, he was the senior consultant for the internal policy field within the President's Office of the Republic of Moldova. From 2005 to 2008, he was the head of the Youth Programs Department and the Deputy Minister of Education and Youth. He then worked within the Government of the Republic of Moldova as the head of the secretariat of the National Committee for European Integration. From 2009 to 2011, he was the consultant and head of the cabinet of the Deputy Chairman of the Parliament.
Political activity
Ceban became an MP within the lists of PCRM following the snap parliamentary elections held on 28 November 2010[4] and worked within the committee for culture, education, research, youth, sport and mass media.[5] In September 2012, he announced during a press conference that he left PCRM to join a new political project launched a couple of months before by his former colleagues Igor Dodon and Zinaida Greceanîi, PSRM. At that time, he denied that he was blackmailed to leave the PCRM. Shortly thereafter, he became the secretary responsible for the ideology of the PSRM. Following the elections of November 2014, he became an MP within the PSRM lists.[6][7]
From 2015 to 2019, he was the chairperson of the PSRM faction at the Municipal Council. In June 2015, shortly after becoming a municipal counselor in Chișinău from the PSRM list, he resigned from his MP mandate.
From 2016 to 2018, he held the positions of Counsellor to the President for internal policy, secretary, and press secretary of the President of the Republic of Moldova, while also serving as a municipal counselor. In 2018, he left the President's Office to run for the position of Mayor of the Chișinău municipality. He remained the leader of the PSRM faction within the Council of the Chișinău municipality. The President's Office requested the National Integrity Authority to determine if the position of Counsellor to the President was compatible with the position of Municipal Counselor. The institution responded that, according to the law on the personnel statute within the office of persons with public dignity,[8] the President's Counsellor cannot hold any other public or contractual positions within public authorities. Ion Ceban subsequently resigned from his role as President's Counsellor, was employed as the President's secretary, and also served as press secretary.[9]
After the parliamentary elections held on February 24, 2019, he was elected as an MP from the PSRM list. Since June 8, 2019, he has held one of the four positions of Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.
2018 Chișinău mayoral election
On May 20, 2018, in the first round of elections, Ceban received 40.97% of the vote.[10] On June 3, the second round of elections took place, with Ion Ceban and Andrei Năstase participating as the candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round. Voter turnout was over 39.10%. Andrei Năstase, the candidate of the "Dignity and Truth Platform," received 52.57% of the votes[11] and was elected as the general Mayor of the Chișinău municipality.[12]
On June 19, 2018, the Central Office of the Chișinău Court ruled that due to violations committed by both candidates, particularly electoral campaigning on the day of the election, which is against the provisions of the Electoral Code, the legality of the new local elections held on May 20, 2018 (first round) and June 3, 2018 (second round) for the position of Mayor of the Chișinău municipality was not confirmed.[13]
2019 Chișinău mayoral election
On September 2, 2019, he was registered as an electoral candidate for the October 20 elections for the position of Mayor of Chișinău from the PSRM side.[14][15] The electoral rival Valeriu Munteanu, the leader of the Save Bessarabia Union (Uniunea Salvati Basarabia) party, requested that the CEC exclude Ion Ceban from the elections due to the use of undeclared funds.[16] Valeriu Munteanu referred to the weekly expenditures reported by the PSRM, which were much lower than the actual expenditures. He stated, "Whether the PSRM has already been connected to the flow of money that would come from government activity, and if these things have not yet started, it means that the funding continues to come from Moscow and thus, the money comes from the Kremlin, by using the sideways.”[17][18]
On October 7, 2019, he filed a lawsuit against the candidate Ion Ceban, alleging that the Socialists violated electoral legislation by using electoral materials featuring the image of the historical figure Ștefan cel Mare. On October 10, 2019, the Chișinău court, Râșcani headquarters, found that Ion Ceban had violated electoral law by using the image of a historical figure for electoral campaigning. The court ordered the removal of all road-electoral boards featuring Ștefan cel Mare's image and the liquidation of the undistributed stock of the electoral newspaper, both in print and online.[19][20][21] On October 15, 2019, the Court of Appeal of Chișinău overturned the decision of the first court, ruling that the action filed by Valeriu Munteanu against Ion Ceban and the Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova was inadmissible.[22] This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Justice.[23]
This section needs expansion with: second round. You can help by adding to it. (October 2024)
On October 20, 2019, the first round of local elections took place.[24] Ion Ceban received 40.16% of the votes, while his electoral rival, Andrei Năstase, was supported by 30.09% of voters.[25]
On October 21, 2019, Ion Ceban proposed to the ACUM Bloc (DT and PAS) to form a coalition within the Municipal Council, which would allow a stable majority to be achieved in the deliberative body of the capital. He expressed his readiness, if he were to become mayor, to assign two deputy mayor positions, the leadership of the Municipal Council, and two praetor positions to potential coalition praetors.[26][27]
2023 Chișinău mayoral election
Ion Ceban has been reelected as mayor of Moldova's capital, Chisinau, in the first round, winning 50.62 percent of the vote. His PAS opponent, Lilian Carp, garnered 28.23 percent, as announced by election authorities after all votes from the capital's 305 polling stations were counted.
The National Alternative Movement party
In December 2021, Ceban launched a new political party: the National Alternative Movement.[28] On 20 April, Ion Ceban announced that the political party he leads, the National Alternative Movement (Mișcarea Alternativa Națională or MAN), would participate in the pro-European demonstration announced by President Maia Sandu. Ion Ceban proposed signing an agreement, or "Chișinău Pact," similar to the Snagov Pact in Romania.[29] The Chișinău Pact aims to build a political partnership with the objective of joining the European Union by 2030. The mayor of Chișinău recommends voting on this pact at the national assembly on May 21. In his statement made during a youth forum, Ceban condemned the war and the aggression of Russia, stating that Moldova stands with Ukraine and supports its territorial integrity and sovereignty.[30]
The National Alternative Movement (MAN) party, led by Ion Ceban, had a strong showing in the 2023 local elections, particularly in Chișinău. After just 10 months since its formation, MAN won 33.25% of the vote in the Chișinău municipal elections, securing 85,553 votes (the highest score in Chișinău), which translated into 20 out of 51 municipal council seats. This result made MAN the leading political force in the Chișinău Municipal Council.
Personal life
Ceban is married to Tatiana Țaulean. They have three children: Ilinca, Vasile, and Mark. According to his CV he speaks Romanian, Russian, English, and French.[31]
Ceban stated that in the spring of 2019, he was attacked while out walking with his wife and children. He reported that someone aimed a firearm at him and his family, and said, "The bullet passed between me and my wife while we were holding the children by the hands."[33][34]
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