The post of president of the Central Election Commission (CEC) could be taken over by the opposition when the tenure of the current members expire, the head of the Parliament’s legal commission for appointments and immunities Sergiu Sarbu said in an interview for Radio Free Europe. The lawmaker assured that the parliamentary coalition is ready to concede the CEC presidency to the opposition, IPN reports.

“Experts recommend to mandatorily include members of the parliamentary opposition in this Commission. Possibly the opposition will not hold a majority of seats in the CEC, but the post of the Commission’s president could be occupied by a representative of the opposition. I want to note that this is a very important post, with rather important instruments within this institution. This thing will fully compensate for the absence of a majority of seats in the CEC,” stated Sergiu Sarbu.

According to him, the president, vice president and secretary of the CEC are elected by the members of the Commission. Thus, the parliamentary coalition could ask its representatives to take this wish into account and to support a representative of the opposition. “It is important for this post to be held by a professional, no matter who he/she represents,” said the MP.

He also said that one of the nine members of the CEC is named by the head of state, while the other eight members are named by Parliament. They proportionally represent the government and the opposition. “According to mathematical calculations, five members should be nominated by the parliamentary coalition, while three by the opposition. These will go through all the stages, in accordance with the law on holders of public posts,” stated Sergiu Sarbu.

The tenure of the current composition of the Central Election Commission expires on February 11.