Ion Ceban
Ion Ceban (born June 30, 1980) is a Moldovan politician and the current mayor of Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. He is a member of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (SPRM). Ceban was a deputy chairman of the Moldovan parliament in 2019, and has served as a member of parliament in 3 legislatures. He was formerly chairman of the fraction of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova at the Council of the Chișinău Municipality from 2015 to 2019 as the secretary responsible for the ideology of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. He has held different positions at the governmental level starting from the head of a department to deputy minister. Ceban was a member of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova from 2004 to September 28, 2012, when the party, then headed by Vladimir Voronin governed.[1] He has participated proactively organized in the Republic of Moldova since 2009 by 2019.
Ion Ceban | |
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![]() Ceban in 2017, being interviewed by members of the news media. | |
34th Mayor of Chișinău | |
Assumed office 11 November 2019 | |
Preceded by | Andrei Năstase |
Deputy Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament | |
In office 8 June 2019 – 14 November 2019 | |
President | Igor Dodon |
Prime Minister | Pavel Filip Maia Sandu |
Preceded by | Valeriu Ghilețchi |
Succeeded by | Vlad Batrîncea |
Member of the Moldovan Parliament | |
In office 24 February 2019 – 14 November 2019 | |
Succeeded by | Mihail Paciu |
In office 5 June 2011 – 21 July 2015 | |
Succeeded by | Adrian Lebedinschi |
Member of the Chișinău Municipal Council | |
In office 21 July 2015 – 11 April 2019 | |
Deputy Minister of Education and Youth | |
In office 21 November 2007 – 25 April 2008 | |
President | Vladimir Voronin |
Prime Minister | Vasile Tarlev Zinaida Greceanîi |
Preceded by | Viorelia Moldovan-Batrînac |
Succeeded by | Galina Bulat |
Personal details | |
Born | Chișinău, Moldovian SSR, Soviet Union | 30 June 1980
Political party | Moldovan Communist (2004–2012) Moldovan Socialist (2012–2019) |
Spouse(s) | Tatiana Țaulean |
Children | 2 |
Education | Technical University of Moldova |
Early life and education
Ceban was born on June 30, 1980 in Chișinău. His parents are Vasile and Eugenia Ceban, a municipal counselor from the SPRM.[2] In 2019, Ceban received a Doctoral Degree Studies in Public Administration at RANEPA in Russia.[3]
- 1997–2002, State University of Moldova, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, with university degree/diploma.
- 2002–2003, Technical University of Moldova, Faculty of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, master's degree diploma.
- 2015–2018, Academy of Public Administration of the President of Russian Federation, Speciality State and Municipal Administration, Moscow, Russia.
- 2016, 2018, National School of Administration of the Prime Minister of the French Republic, internship, Paris, France.
- 2018 – present, Administration School of Berlin, Germany.
Career
Professional activity
From 2000 to 2002 Ceban worked within SAGD, where he was in charge of the development and for the projects and programs coordination for the social field, at the Chisinau Mayoralty. From 2002 to 2004 he was the director of the projects department within Government Information Network. In 2004–05, the senior consultant for the internal policy field within the President Office of the Republic of Moldova. In 2005–2008, he was the head of the Youth Programs Department and the Deputy Minister of Education and Youth. Then, he was employed within the Government of the Republic of Moldova, as the head of the secretariat of the national committee for European Integration. From 2009–2011 he was the consultant, head of the cabinet of the Deputy Chairman of the Parliament.
Political activity
Ceban became an MP within the lists of PCRM and following the snap parliamentary elections held on November 28, 2010 [4] and worked within the Committee for culture, education, research, youth, sport and mass media.[1] In September 2012, he announced within a press conference, that he left PCRM to join a new political project launched with 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. In a short period of time, 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.[5][6]
In 2015–2019, he was the chairperson of the PSRM fraction at the Municipal Council. In June 2015, he resigned from the MP mandate, in a short time after he became within the PSRM lists, the municipal counsellor in Chișinău.
In 2016–2018, he held the positions as the Counsellor of the President for the internal policy, secretary, press secretary of the President of the Republic of Moldova, but he kept also the position of the municipal counsellor. In 2018, he left the President Office, when he was the candidate for the position of Mayor of the Chisinau muni. He remained the leader of the PSRM fraction within the Council of the Chisinau muni. The President Office has requested the National Integrity Authority to establish if the position of the Counsellor of the President is or not in compliance with the position of the Municipal Counsellor. At this request, the institution answered that according to the Law on the personnel statute within the office of the persons with public dignity position,[7] the President Counsellor cannot held any other public positions or contractual positions within public authorities. Ion Ceban resigned from the position of the President Counsellor and employed as the President’s secretary, and has carried out the position of the press secretary. [8]
After the parliamentary elections held on February 24, 2019, he was elected as MP within the PSRM lists. Since June 8, 2019, he has held one of those 4 positions of the Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.
2018 Chișinău mayoral election
On May 20, 2018, in the first round of the elections, Ceban received 40.97% of the vote.[9] On June the 3rd, the second round of elections was carried out, where Ion Ceban and Andrei Năstase participated, the candidates have got the highest number of votes in the first round of elections. The presence at elections was over 39,10%. Andrei Năstase, the candidate of the “Dignity and Truth Platform” has got 52,57% of votes,[10] he was elected at the position of the general Mayor of the Chisinau municipality. [11]
On June 19, 2018, by the Ruling of the Central Office of the Chișinău Court, due to the violations committed by both candidates, and particularly was stated that both candidates have made electoral campaigning within the day of the election which is against the provisions of the electoral Code, the legality of the new local elections of May 20, 2018 (I round) – of June 3, 2018 (II round) for the position of the Mayor of the Chisinau muni was not confirmed. [12]
2019 Chișinău mayoral election
On September 2, 2019, he was registered as electoral candidate for the elections of October 20th, for the position of the Mayor of Chișinău from the PSRM side.[13][14] The electoral rival Valeriu Munteanu, the leader of the party Save Bessarabia Union (Uniunea Salvati Basarabia) has requested from the CEC to exclude Ion Ceban from the elections because of undeclared funds use.[15] Valeriu Munteanu has referred to the expenditures weekly reported by the PSRM which are much lower than the actual expenditures, "Whether the PSRM has already been connected to the flow of money that would come from the government activity, and if these things have not yet started, it means that the funding continue to come from Moscow and thus, the money come from the Kremlin, by using the sideways.” [16][17]
On October 7, 2019, he filed a lawsuit against the candidate Ion Ceban, in connection with the violation of the electoral legislation by the Socialists, by using the electoral materials on which the image of the historical personality is printed - the ruler Ștefan cel Mare and Holy. On October 10, 2019 the Chișinău court, the headquarter of Râșcani, found that Ion Ceban violated the electoral law by using the image of a historical personality to make electoral campaigning, forcing him to remove all the road-electoral boards that used the Ștefan cel Mare's image and to liquidate the undistributed stock of the electoral newspaper, on which the image of the ruler was printed, and from the online environment also.[18][19][20] On October 15, 2019, the Court of Appeal of Chișinău has declared the cassation of the decision of the first court, and a new decision as a conclusion was adopted according to which the action filed by Valeriu Munteanu against Ion Ceban and the Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova was declared inadmissible,[21] decision upheld by the Supreme Court of Justice.[22]
On October 20, 2019 the first round of the local elections was carried out. [23] Ion Ceban got 40,16% of the voters, and his electoral rival Andrei Nastase, was supported by 30,09% of voters.[24]
On October 21, 2019, Ion Ceban proposed to the ACUM Block (DT and PAS) to build the coalition within the Municipal Council, which would allow a stable majority to be achieved in the deliberative fore of the Capital. He expressed the readiness, if he reaches the mayor position, to assign to the potential coalition partners two functions of deputy mayor, the leadership of the Municipal Council, as well as two functions of praetors.[25][26]
Personal life
Ceban is married to Tatiana Țaulean. He has two children: Ilinca andi Vasile. According to his CV he speaks the Romanian, Russian, English, and French languages.[27]
Alleged attack
Ceban stated that in the Spring of 2019, he was attacked when he was out walking with his wife and children. He stated that someone aimed a firearm in the direction of him and his family and that "The bullet passed between me and my wife, while holding the children by the hands."[28][29]
Controversy
Illegal construction
Ceban had previously been involved in stopping of illegal construction in Chișinău, declaring, in this regard, "We, the Party of Socialists in the MCC, have all the addresses and details regarding these unauthorized constructions and, over time, we have managed to stop dozens of them. The fight in this regard continues, but there is a need for wide-ranging discussions to identify the best solutions and to take a stand against the real estate mafia."[30] The Socialists launched an initiative, identifying the optimal solution for the moment - all lands owned by the city of Chisinau from the private domain to be passed into the public domain. The Deputy Chairman of the Dignity and Truth Platform, Alexandru Slusari, after examining the proposal came up with a response to Ion Ceban: "Maybe Ceban intentionally came with this proposal to distract the attention? Maybe he fulfills the order of those who stole the capital for so many years?"[31] Later an audio recording appeared on social media, according to which a representative of one Chișinău's construction company proposes a bribe to a representative of the socialists, to block the works, and the socialist's representative would have deem for these a fee of 50,000 thousand euros and he would have promised to meet with Ion Ceban and the problem will be solved.[32]
References
- "Profil: Ion Ceban, consilier municipal, PSRM", MOLDOVACURATA, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Tranzacţiile imobiliare, firmele şi proiectele finanţate de Occident din familia socialistului Ion Ceban", Ziarul de Gardă, May 11, 2018, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "РАНХиГС. Российская академия народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте РФ", Vuz.edunetwork.ru/77/v9/, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "Lista candidaţilor PCRM pentru alegerile parlamentare 2010 / Alegeri 2010", E-democracy.md/elections/parliamentary/2010/opponents/pcrm/list/, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Profil candidat: Ion Ceban", MOLDOVACURATA, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "Partidul Socialiştilor din Republica Moldova (PSRM) / partide.md", E-democracy.md/parties/psmpr/, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "Lex.justice.md", Lex.justice.md/md/335147/, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Preşedinţia ocolește legea: Ion Ceban, aflat în incompatibilitate, a fost angajat într-o funcţie tehnică", MOLDOVACURATA, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Rezultate alegeri locale 2018. Pentru cine au votat locuitorii Capitalei - MoldStreet", Mold-street.com, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Ultima oră! Rezultatele FINALE ale alegerilor din Chișinău (LIVE/UPDATE)", noi.md, retrieved October 23, 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 October 23, 2019
- "Hotărîre CEC nr. 1713, 29 iunie 2018 / Alegeri 2018", E-democracy.md/elections/chisinau/2018/cec/1713/, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Ion Ceban este candidatul PSRM la Primăria capitalei (VIDEO)", A-tv.md/index.php?newsid=65457, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "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 October 23, 2019
- "USB semnalează utilizarea fondurilor nedeclarate de către un concurent electoral", IPN, retrieved October 23, 2019
- Iurii Botnarenco (October 7, 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 October 23, 2019
- "DOC/ Motivul pentru care Ion Ceban este obligat de instanță să-și scoată panourile electorale din oraș", Ziarul de Gardă, October 10, 2019, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "DOC // Instanța îl obligă pe Ion Ceban să scoată panourile electorale din Chișinău", Deschide.MD, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Ceban, „iertat" de Curtea de Apel. Nu va mai fi obligat să scoată toate panourile cu imaginea lui Ștefan cel Mare", AGORA, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "CSJ i-a dat dreptate lui Ion Ceban pe subiectul panourilor electorale. Recursul lui Valeriu Munteanu a fost respins (DOC)", AGORA, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Alegerile locale generale din 2019 în Republica Moldova - alegeri.md", Alegeri.md/w/alegerile_locale_generale_din_2019_%c3%aen_republica_moldova, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "alegeri.md - Alegeri în Republica Moldova", Alegeri.md/w/pagina_principal%c4%83, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Alegeri la Chisinau: Socialistul Ion Ceban ii propune o coalitie lui Andrei Nastase", Ziare.com, October 23, 2019, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "Ceban vrea coaliție cu ACUM și împarte funcții în CMC: Țîcu și Chironda - șefi de departamente. Propunerea socialistului", Ziarul de Gardă, October 21, 2019, retrieved October 23, 2019
- "(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/, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "Viața lui Ion Ceban și a familiei sale, în pericol?", noi.md, retrieved September 15, 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, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "Alexandru Slusari critică măsura propusă de Ceban privind construcţiile ilegale din capitală: „Populism și utopism"", JurnalTV.md, retrieved September 15, 2019
- "Dovadă AUDIO: socialistul Ion Ceban „colectează" câte 50.000 de la companiile de construcții pentru a „nu le face probleme"", Timpul - Ştiri din Moldova, retrieved September 15, 2019