The Republic of Moldova does not need a new electoral system. The current electoral system should be only improved. The citizens of the diaspora, who form 35% of Moldova’s budget, should be included in the electoral process and their right to vote abroad should be ensured. There is no need to introduce a new voting system that would suit only the current government, said Stefan Gligor, programs director at the Center for Politics and Reforms.
In a news conference at IPN, which involved representatives of civil society organizations, Stefan Gligor said the goal of the current government is not the uninominal voting system or unconstitutional clauses that can already cause objections on the part of the Venice Commission wouldn’t have been included in the bill.
“The goal of the government is to create the electoral system in accordance with the political realities so as to facilitate the task in the next parliamentary elections – entering of Parliament and formation of the Government – given that the popularity of the main ruling party, the Democratic Party, has declined. This is the real reason,” stated Stefan Gligor.
Executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Arcadie Barbarosie said the current electoral system of Moldova is not applied in accordance with the international practices concerning party funding, participation of different groups of interests in elections, method of monitoring and covering the election campaign and electoral process by the media. “These problems exist. They were also formulated by the Constitutional Court. Bill No. 60 does not address the problems that need to be dealt with. The problems remain unsolved, while we are urged to switch over to a new electoral system. The problems continue to exist, while the government insistently proposes another model, in a manipulating way,” stated Arcadie Barbarosie.
In the same connection, programs director at the Legal Resources Center Nadejda Hriptievski said that instead of debating the problems related to the electoral legislation, civil society is made to discuss what voting system is better – the mixed one or the uninominal one. “There are more models and more options. Any bill that modifies the electoral system should be well-founded, while a debate should center on several models with their pluses and minuses. There are not only the mixed and uninominal voting systems. There are also options of the current proportional representation system, with open lists etc.” she stated.
Nadejda Hriptievski also said that the government should not concentrate the legislature’s and civil society’s attention on discussions about one voting system only. “It’s not right to change the rules of the game during the game. Analyses are needed and more voting systems should be proposed so as to choose the best one for Moldova,” she noted.
