If no initiative to amend article 78 of the Constitution is approved by 2/3 of the votes of the MPs, there could be organized a referendum where the voters will say if they want the head of state to be elected by the people or in Parliament, Info-Prim Neo reports. Democrat MP Aurel Baiesu, who is a member of the constitutional reform commission, spoke about the possibility of holding a referendum at a roundtable meeting organized by the Embassy of Ukraine in Chisinau last weekend. The Alliance for European Integration (AEI), the Communists Party (PCRM) and the group of independent MPs of the United Moldova Party led by Vladimir Turcan formulated three different bills to modify article 78 of the Constitution, concerning the election of the head of state. The authors said the Constitutional Court will examine the bills within six months after they are accepted. If all the bills are accepted, the Parliament will have to pass one of them by 2/3 of the votes. The bill proposed by the United Moldova Party suggests holding three rounds to elect the President – by 61 votes in the first two rounds and by a simple majority of votes, i.e. 52 votes, in the third round of voting. The PCRM also suggested electing the head of state by three rounds, but by a different number of votes – 61, 57 and 52 votes respectively. The AEI considers the head of state should be elected directly by the people. Aurel Baiesu stressed the Alliance's proposal is in fact the PDM's initiative that was accepted by the AEI after consultations. According to the MP, the surveys show the people want to elect the President themselves, which is an European practice. Aurel Baiesu said that the Venice Commission proposed lowering the election threshold or allowing the people to choose the head of state directly. In December last year, the legislative body failed two times to elect the head of state and will have to make a decision as regards the modification of article 78 by June 16, 2010, which is the deadline by which the Parliament must be dissolved.