Minister of Justice Vladimir Cebotari said that by changing the electoral system, the Democratic Party will realize the wish of at least 850,000 people with the right to vote. At the same time, Communist MP Elena Bodnarenko considers the number of signatories invoked by the Democrats is not real. Contradictory statements on the issue were made in the program “Moldova live” on the public TV channel Moldova 1, IPN reports.

“The European partners who impose conditions as to the replacement of the electoral system in the Republic of Moldova defend the interests of Moldovan politicians who are close to them. We cannot ignore the interests of 850,000 people who want this change. A number of 74 MPs of the 82 attending voted for the mixed-member electoral system in the first reading. This shows that a broad consensus was reached,” stated Cebotari.

Elena Bodnarenko said the Democrats mislead when they say that 850,000 Moldovans voted for the uninominal voting system. “We had today a meeting with experts of the Venice Commission. I think the foreign partners realize what is going on in the Republic of Moldova, that this became a captured state with a sick democracy. A reliable poll shows 71% of the respondents consider the state is captured. So, I don’t think that 850,000 voted for the uninominal system,” stated the Communist MP.

Socialist MP Vasile Bolea in the same program said the Socialists put forward the proposal to introduce the mixed-member electoral system in order to prevent the Democrats from implementing the uninominal voting system. “The PDM would have voted the uninominal system. We proposed introducing the mixed-member system in order to save the parties,” he stated.