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.
Early life and education
[edit]Ceban was born on 30 June 1980, in Chișinău. His parents are Vasile and Eugenia Ceban. Eugenia is a municipal counselor from the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM).[1]
Ceban graduated from the State University of Moldova with an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science, followed by a master's degree from the Technical University of Moldova. In 2016 and 2018, he served internships at the French National Institute of Public Service. In 2019, he received a doctoral degree in public administration from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.[2] As of 2019, he is currently pursuing studies in a public administration program based in Berlin.[3]
Career
[edit]Professional activity
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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]
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | 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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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]
At the 2024 Moldovan census, Ceban declared that he is ethnically Moldovan and has no other ethnicity, but his native language is Romanian.[32]
Alleged attack
[edit]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]
Online presence
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Tranzacţiile imobiliare, firmele şi proiectele finanţate de Occident din familia socialistului Ion Ceban", Ziarul de Gardă, 11 May 2018, retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "РАНХиГС. Российская академия народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте РФ", Vuz.edunetwork.ru/77/v9/, retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Who is Ion Ceban, the candidate for capital city mayoralty". IPN Press Agency. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Lista candidaţilor PCRM pentru alegerile parlamentare 2010 / Alegeri 2010", E-democracy.md/elections/parliamentary/2010/opponents/pcrm/list/, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Profil: Ion Ceban, consilier municipal, PSRM", Moldovacurata, archived from the original on 23 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Profil candidat: Ion Ceban", Moldovacurata, archived from the original on 5 September 2019, retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Partidul Socialiştilor din Republica Moldova (PSRM) / partide.md", E-democracy.md/parties/psmpr/, retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Lex.justice.md", Lex.justice.md/md/335147/, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Preşedinţia ocolește legea: Ion Ceban, aflat în incompatibilitate, a fost angajat într-o funcţie tehnică", Moldovacurata, archived from the original on 20 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Rezultate alegeri locale 2018. Pentru cine au votat locuitorii Capitalei - MoldStreet", Mold-street.com, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Ultima oră! Rezultatele FINALE ale alegerilor din Chișinău (Live/Update)", noi.md, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Alegeri noi ale primarului general al municipiului Chişinău din 20 mai şi 3 iunie 2018 / alegeri.md", E-democracy.md/elections/chisinau/2018/, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Hotărîre CEC nr. 1713, 29 iunie 2018 / Alegeri 2018", E-democracy.md/elections/chisinau/2018/cec/1713/, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Ion Ceban este candidatul PSRM la Primăria capitalei (Video)", A-tv.md/index.php?newsid=65457, retrieved 15 September 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Valeriu Munteanu vrea ca Ion Ceban să fie exclus din cursa electorală, din cauza că nu ar fi declarat toţi banii cheltuiţi în campanie", TVR Moldova, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "USB semnalează utilizarea fondurilor nedeclarate de către un concurent electoral", IPN, 7 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Iurii Botnarenco (7 October 2019), "Ion Ceban, acuzat că îşi face campanie electorală pe bani proveniţi ilegal din Rusia. PL cere excluderea candidatului socialist din cursa electorală", Adevărul, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "DOC/ Motivul pentru care Ion Ceban este obligat de instanță să-și scoată panourile electorale din oraș", Ziarul de Gardă, 10 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "DOC // Instanța îl obligă pe Ion Ceban să scoată panourile electorale din Chișinău", Deschide.MD, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Ceban, "iertat" de Curtea de Apel. Nu va mai fi obligat să scoată toate panourile cu imaginea lui Ștefan cel Mare", Agora, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "CSJ i-a dat dreptate lui Ion Ceban pe subiectul panourilor electorale. Recursul lui Valeriu Munteanu a fost respins (DOC)", Agora, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Alegerile locale generale din 2019 în Republica Moldova - alegeri.md", Alegeri.md/w/alegerile_locale_generale_din_2019_%c3%aen_republica_moldova, retrieved 23 October 2019.
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- ^ "Alegeri la Chisinau: Socialistul Ion Ceban ii propune o coalitie lui Andrei Nastase", Ziare.com, 23 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Ceban vrea coaliție cu ACUM și împarte funcții în CMC: Țîcu și Chironda - șefi de departamente. Propunerea socialistului", Ziarul de Gardă, 21 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Примар Ион Чебан запускает Национальное альтернативное движение". 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Ion Ceban proposes signing an agreement similar to Romania's Snagov Pact". moldova1.md. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "Ion Ceban recunoaște Rusia ca "stat agresor": "Condamn războiul. Condamn agresiunea"". tv8.md. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "(doc) Care sunt CV-urile tuturor candidaților care vor participa la alegerile locale din Chișinău - #diez", Diez.md/2018/04/04/doc-care-sunt-cv-urile-tuturor-candidatilor-care-vor-participa-la-alegerile-locale-din-chisinau/, 4 April 2018, retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "VIDEO Ion Ceban răspunde public la câteva întrebări de la recensământ! Sunt moldovean, iar limba maternă este…". 9 April 2024.
- ^ "Viața lui Ion Ceban și a familiei sale, în pericol?", noi.md, retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "(video) Viața lui Ion Ceban și a familiei acestuia este în pericol? "Glonțul a trecut între mine și soția mea, când țineam copiii de mâini"", UNIMEDIA, 29 May 2019, retrieved 15 September 2019.