Protest against change of electoral system held in Moldovan capital

Chisinau, 11 June /MOLDPRES/ - Representatives of the civil society and opposition parties today participated in a new protest outside the parliament building, during which they demanded withdrawal of the initiative on the change of the electoral system. 

The protest was backed by more political parties – Dignity and Truth Platform Party, Action and Solidarity Party, Liberal Democratic Party and Our Party. More civic activists spoke for hours before protesters, bringing arguments against the amendment of the voting system.  

In the end of the action, the protesters voted a resolution, which they said that they would submit to the Venice Commission, ambassadors accredited in Moldova, Council of Europe. The resolution contains arguments by the civil society and protesters against the change of the electoral system.

Also today, more rallies of the civil society in favour of changing the electoral system were organized in the towns of Edinet, Ialoveni and Cahul. Thus, according to the police, about 11,000 people demonstrated in Edinet and almost 10,000 in Ialoveni and Cahul each.

A similar protest, organized by parties of the parliament’s opposition, was held in Chisinau on 14 May. People showed discontent with the fact that, on 5 May 2017, the parliament approved, in the first reading, two drafts on the change of the electoral system – a proposal by the Democratic Party on the introduction of the uninominal voting and another one by the Party of Socialists on the mixed electoral system. Following consultations, the parliament’s juridical commission for rules and immunities ruled to merge the drafts for the second reading.  

(Reporter A. Zara, editor M. Jantovan)