Moldovan speaker opts for change of electoral system

Chisinau, 17 June /MOLDPRES/- “We will act as we promised to the citizens and will vote for the change of electoral system. At the same time, as we have committed, we will implement the technical and legal recommendations of the Venice Commission,” Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu said today, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.

The speaker pointed out that the change of electoral system was the sovereign decision of Moldova. “Recommendations will be included in the project. The draft law will be voted. Electoral system will be changed, and the law will be sent to the Venice Commission for evaluation. We agreed on the procedure yesterday, so that the European Union should be sure that Moldova has met the recommendations of the Commission”, he said.

“The current electoral system , voted in 1994, failed. Corruption, political crisis, inefficient work in coalition, that’s what the current system gives us. One of the reasons for the decision to set the mixed vote is the need to change the political class”, he said.

Criteria for delimiting constituencies, voting in the Transnistrian region and abroad, representation of women, electoral threshold, funding campaigns and other recommendations presented by the Venice Commission will be implemented by authorities.

At the same time, the speaker said that “there can be no unanimity on the matter, as there can be no one else. It matters what most people want. At this time, polls show that over 60 per cent of Moldovans will change the electoral system. 850,000 signatures were collected in support of the change, 2/3 of the mayors, about 50 NGOs, 15 public associations of minorities, majority of MPs – 74 lawmakers opted for another electoral system”, he said.

“We believe that the EU will not condition cooperation with Moldova, because it would mean interference in the domestic politics of our country and ignoring the opinion of most people. Last year, citizens were given an additional right to vote directly the President of Moldova, now we want to give people the right to vote their MP”, Candu said.