The initiative group for organizing the legislative referendum, by which to annul the mixed-member electoral system, decided to repeat the registration procedure. On February 11, there will be staged a general constitution assembly. The procedure will be rerun after the Central Election Commission (CEC) refused to register the initiative group, invoking violations of the rules.
The constitution assembly will take place at the National Philharmonic “Sergey Lunkevich” starting at 8:30am.
In a news conference at IPN, Stefan Gligor, programs director at the Center for Politics and Reforms, said all the shortcomings mentioned by the CEC were removed so that no pretexts for refusing registration could be invoked this time. “The Republic of Moldova is declining in terms of democracy and there is no other way for unblocking the situation than regaining the right to choose the government. Holding a referendum to restore the proportional voting system is the only solution,” stated Stefan Gligor.
Stella Utsica, expert at the Public Policy Institute, said the current Parliament does not represent the interests of the people. If the next elections are held bead on the mixed electoral system, the situation will be more serious. The holding of a legislative referendum is the only democratic interment for holding free and fair elections in Moldova. Stella Utsica called on those who want to come to the assembly to take the identity card and a copy of this with them and wear a martsishor at the chest.
Andrei Lutenco, programs director at the Center for Politics and Reforms, said they will rerun the exercise in order to restore the people’s confidence in elections.
Sergiu Tofilat, expert of the association “WatchDog.md” Community, said that within the mixed electoral system that suits only the Democratic Party, the citizens will no longer have the right to change the government if this does not represent their interests. “We cannot tolerate this,” stated Sergiu Tofilat.
Lilia Carasciuc, executive director of Transparency International Moldova, noted the goal of the refusal to register the initiative group was to put up residence to people’s initiatives. “What we should do now is to oppose and do so that democracy functions in this country and chances are offered to all the parties to come to power,” stated Lilia Carasciuc.
According to Ianina Spinei, expert of Transparency International Moldova, a number of international organizations expressed their concern about the worsening of the situations at all levels in Moldova. In such conditions, civil society and all the citizens should combine forces to prevent the further worsening of things.
“The Republic of Moldova enters a dangerous phase. For the first time since the obtaining of independence, the normal framework of democracy was flouted. From here there is only one step up to the autocratic regime, where everything is in the hands of one person. We are obliged to struggle against this regime,” said analyst Victor Ciobanu.
For an initiative group to be created, the assembly should involve 300 citizens eligible to vote, 100 of whom should later form part of the initiative group for collecting signatures. The submission of documents to the CEC for registering the initiative group is the next step. If the CEC registers the group, this will have to collect at least 200,000 signatures in favor of the referendum within two-three months.
