The legislative initiative to modify the method of electing Moldova’s Parliament envisions the election of MPs in 101 electoral constituencies, by one MP in each constituency. To be registered, the candidate must present subscription lists with the signatures of at least 1,000 and at most 2,000 supporters with the right to vote. The necessity of authenticating the given lists by mayor’s offices is excluded, IPN reports.

The candidates fielded by parties and the independent ones will be able to run in one uninominal constituency. The candidate who gains a majority of valid votes is considered elected. There will be no election threshold. For Parliament to be legally constituted, the Constitutional Court must validate minimum two thirds of the seats.

If an MP is not elected in the uninominal constituency as a result of elections or the seat of MP falls vacant, the CEC will set the date of partial elections in the given uninominal constituency within two weeks. The term in office of the elected MP lasts until the general mandate of Parliament expires.

The MP can be dismissed by local referendum if this does not respect the interests of the community in the constituency, does not appropriately fulfill his duties defined by law and violates the moral and ethical norms. The local referendum can be initiated one year after the MP takes up his duties or after the previous local referendum. This cannot be held during the last year of the term.

The uninominal constituencies will be created by the Central Election Commission within six months of the coming into force of this law, according to a calculation formula based on the number of voters included in electoral registers at each polling place in the last national elections. The borders of uninominal constituencies can be reviewed 90 days before the ordinary elections at the latest.

The Central Election Commission will form the district electoral councils 55 days before the elections at the latest. For the polling stations established abroad, the Commission will form an electoral council that will work in Chisinau municipality. The election campaign starts not earlier than 30 days before the elections.

The legislative initiative was registered in Parliament on March 14. The bill signed by the Democratic MPs contains changes and supplements to the Election Code and the Law on the Status of MP. The document will be submitted to the Venice Commission for appraisal and will also be proposed for public debates.