The legislative initiative that envisions the institution of a uninominal voting system was registered in Parliament. The bill contains amendments and supplements to the Election Code and the Law on the Status of MP. It will be sent to the Venice Commission for appraisal and will be proposed for public debates, Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu stated in a news conference, IPN reports.

Andrian Candu said the draft law will not be put to the vote in Parliament without the appraisal of the Venice Commission and without public debates with the whole society. The bill modifies the electoral system of Moldova in case of parliamentary elections. It is suggested replacing the party-list proportional representation system with a majority vote system based on uninominal constituencies. Currently, the 101 MPs are chosen based on party lists by one national constituency. The new bill provides there will be created 101 constituencies and by one MP will be elected in each constituency.

In the diaspora, constituencies will be established based on information about the territorial distribution and number of Moldovans who are abroad. Constituencies could be also set up in Transnistria, but, according to Andrian Candu, parliamentary elections on the left side of the Nistru will not be held as long as they are not secured and the electoral legislation is not respected there.

The Speaker said the Central Election Commission and the Constitutional Court will be responsible for the validation and withdrawal of seats of MP. The elected MP could not be dismissed on the first and last year in office. The seat of MP will be withdrawn by local referendum in the constituency that chose this MP if 50% of the voters plus one ask for this.

At least 1,000 signatures and at most 2,000 signatures are needed for fielding a candidate for MP. The candidates will have to submit a set of documents, including the records of punishment and integrity.