Ion Ceban

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 Moldovan parliament in 2019 and has served as a member of parliament in three legislatures. He also served as a leader of his party's faction in the Chișinău Municipal Council from 2015 to 2019. He has held different positions at the governmental level, starting from the head of a department to Deputy Minister.

Ion Ceban
Ceban in 2019
Mayor of Chișinău
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 November 2019
Deputy	See list Inga Ionesii Victor Chironda Angela Cutasevici Ilie Ceban Olga Ursu Fadei Nagacevschi Irina Gutnic
Preceded by	Andrei Năstase
Leader of the National Alternative Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 December 2022
Vice President of the Moldovan Parliament
In office 8 June 2019 – 13 November 2019 Serving with Mihai Popșoi Alexandru Slusari Monica Babuc
President	Igor Dodon
Prime Minister	Maia Sandu
Preceded by	Valeriu Ghilețchi
Succeeded by	Vlad Batrîncea
Member of the Moldovan Parliament
In office 9 March 2019 – 14 November 2019
Succeeded by	Mihail Paciu
Parliamentary group	Party of Socialists
In office 5 June 2011 – 21 July 2015
Succeeded by	Adrian Lebedinschi
Parliamentary group	Party of Communists Party of Socialists
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
Minister	Victor Țvircun Larisa Șavga
Personal details
Born	(1980-06-30) 30 June 1980 (age 43) Chișinău, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Party of Communists (2004–2012) Party of Socialists (2012–2019) National Alternative Movement (since 2022)
Spouse	Tatiana Țaulean [ro]
Children	2
Alma mater	Moldova State University Technical University of Moldova Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

Early life and education

Ceban was born on 30 June 1980, in Chișinău. His parents are Vasile and Eugenia Ceban, a municipal counselor from the SPRM.^[1] In 2019, Ceban received a Doctoral Degree Studies in Public Administration at RANEPA in Russia.^[2]

• 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 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 of the Government Information Network. In 2004–05, the senior consultant for the internal policy field within the President's 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 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 and following the snap parliamentary elections held on 28 November 2010^[3] and worked within the committee for culture, education, research, youth, sport and mass media.^[4] 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 a short time after he became the PSRM lists, the municipal counselor in Chișinău.

In 2016–2018, he held the positions of the Counsellor of the President for internal policy, secretary, and press secretary of the President of the Republic of Moldova, but he also kept the position of municipal counselor. In 2018, he left the President's 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's Office has requested the National Integrity Authority to establish if the position of the Counsellor of the President is or is 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 hold any other public positions or contractual positions within public authorities. Ion Ceban resigned from the position of the President Counsellor and was employed as the President's secretary and has carried out the position of the press secretary.^[8]

After the parliamentary elections held on 24 February 2019, he was elected as MP within the PSRM lists. Since 8 June 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 20 May 2018, in the first round of the elections, Ceban received 40.97% of the vote.^[9] On 3 June, 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 as the position of the general Mayor of the Chisinau municipality.^[11]

On 19 June 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 had 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 20 May 2018 (I round) – of 3 June 2018 (II round) for the position of the Mayor of the Chisinau muni was not confirmed.^[12]

2019 Chișinău mayoral election

 

Ceban in September 2019

On 2 September 2019, he was registered as electoral candidate for the elections of 20 October, 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 weekly expenditures 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 7 October 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 10 October 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 15 October 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 20 October 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 21 October 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]

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, while his PAS opponent, Lilian Carp, garnered 28.23 percent, election authorities announced 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.^[27] On 20 April, Ion Ceban announced the political party that he leads - The National Alternative Movement (Mișcarea Alternativa Națională or MAN) will participate in the pro-European demonstration announced by President Maia Sandu. Ion Ceban proposed signing an agreement, or "Chisinau Pact" similar to the Snagov Pact in Romania.^[28] The Chisinau pact should therefore build a political partnership with the objective of joining the European Union by 2030. The mayor of Chisinau recommends voting on this pact at the national assembly on 21 May.

In his statement, made during Youth forum, Ceban condemned the war and the aggression of Russia, stating that Moldova stands with Ukraine and supports its territorial integrity and sovereignty.^[29]

Personal life

Ceban is married to Tatiana Țaulean. He has two children: Ilinca and Vasile. According to his CV he speaks the Romanian, Russian, English, and French languages.^[30]

At the 2024 Moldovan census, Ceban declared that he is ethnically Moldovan and that he has no other ethnicity, but his native language is Romanian.^[31]

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."^[32][33]

Online presence

• Official website
• Telegram
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• VK
• TikTok

References

1. "Tranzacţiile imobiliare, firmele şi proiectele finanţate de Occident din familia socialistului Ion Ceban", Ziarul de Gardă, 11 May 2018, retrieved 15 September 2019
2. "РАНХиГС. Российская академия народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте РФ", Vuz.edunetwork.ru/77/v9/, retrieved 15 September 2019
3. "Lista candidaţilor PCRM pentru alegerile parlamentare 2010 / Alegeri 2010", E-democracy.md/elections/parliamentary/2010/opponents/pcrm/list/, retrieved 23 October 2019
4. "Profil: Ion Ceban, consilier municipal, PSRM", MOLDOVACURATA, retrieved 23 October 2019
5. , MOLDOVACURATA, archived from the original on 5 September 2019, retrieved 15 September 2019
6. "Partidul Socialiştilor din Republica Moldova (PSRM) / partide.md", E-democracy.md/parties/psmpr/, retrieved 15 September 2019
7. "Lex.justice.md", Lex.justice.md/md/335147/, retrieved 23 October 2019
8. "Preşedinţia ocolește legea: Ion Ceban, aflat în incompatibilitate, a fost angajat într-o funcţie tehnică", MOLDOVACURATA, retrieved 23 October 2019
9. "Rezultate alegeri locale 2018. Pentru cine au votat locuitorii Capitalei - MoldStreet", Mold-street.com, retrieved 23 October 2019
10. "Ultima oră! Rezultatele FINALE ale alegerilor din Chișinău (LIVE/UPDATE)", noi.md, retrieved 23 October 2019
11. "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
12. "Hotărîre CEC nr. 1713, 29 iunie 2018 / Alegeri 2018", E-democracy.md/elections/chisinau/2018/cec/1713/, retrieved 23 October 2019
13. "Socialiștii și-au adus tribună cu sigla partidului la Primărie. Ce promisiuni electorale a făcut Ion Ceban", Tv8.md/2019/09/02/socialistii-si-au-adus-tribuna-cu-sigla-partidului-la-primarie-ce-promisiuni-electorale-a-facut-ion-ceban/, retrieved 15 September 2019
14. "Ion Ceban este candidatul PSRM la Primăria capitalei (VIDEO)", A-tv.md/index.php?newsid=65457, retrieved 15 September 2019^{[permanent dead link]}
15. "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
16. "USB semnalează utilizarea fondurilor nedeclarate de către un concurent electoral", IPN, retrieved 23 October 2019
17. 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
18. "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
19. "/VIDEO/ Panourile electorale ale socialistului Ion Ceban stau neatinse, contrar deciziei de judecată", Tv8.md/2019/10/11/video-panourile-electorale-ale-socialistului-ion-ceban-stau-neatinse-contrar-deciziei-de-judecata/, retrieved 23 October 2019
20. "DOC // Instanța îl obligă pe Ion Ceban să scoată panourile electorale din Chișinău", Deschide.MD, retrieved 23 October 2019
21. "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
22. "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
23. "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
24. "alegeri.md - Alegeri în Republica Moldova", Alegeri.md/w/pagina_principal%c4%83, retrieved 23 October 2019
25. "Alegeri la Chisinau: Socialistul Ion Ceban ii propune o coalitie lui Andrei Nastase", Ziare.com, 23 October 2019, retrieved 23 October 2019
26. "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
27. "Примар Ион Чебан запускает Национальное альтернативное движение". 30 December 2021.
28. "Ion Ceban proposes signing an agreement similar to Romania's Snagov Pact". moldova1.md. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
29. "Ion Ceban recunoaște Rusia ca "stat agresor": "Condamn războiul. Condamn agresiunea"". tv8.md. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
30. "(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
31. https://realitatea.md/video-ion-ceban-raspunde-public-la-cateva-intrebari-de-la-recensamant-sunt-moldovean-iar-limba-materna-este/
32. "Viața lui Ion Ceban și a familiei sale, în pericol?", noi.md, retrieved 15 September 2019
33. "(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