Nongovernmental organizations say the hurry in which the bills concerning the mixed-member electoral system and the uninominal voting systems were included in the agenda of the May 5 sitting of Parliament shows the goal is to promote political interests at any cost. A statement signed by 20 NGOs and public figures says the insistent promotion of the two initiatives means infringement of the law, democracy and common sense, IPN reports.

The NGOs call on Parliament to obey the legislation, to stop the promotion of group or party interests and to act in the public interest, according to the democratic norms. They demand that the development partners of the Republic of Moldova should condemn the given acts and should stop supporting any initiative of the current Government if Parliament adopts one of the two bills.

In the statement, the NGOs remind that opinion polls confirm the lack of popular support for the initiative to replace the electoral system, with the current one being supported by a majority despite the massive propaganda in favor of its substitution. “The replacement of the electoral system is a blow to the rule of law and significant regression in terms of the commitments assumed by the Republic of Moldova,” says the statement.

Among the signatories are: Association of Participatory Democracy; public association “WatchDog.MD”; Association of Independent Press; Foreign Policy Association; Center for the Analysis and Prevention of  Corruption; Journalistic Investigations Center; Center for Policies and Reforms; Legal Resources Center; Partnership for Development Center: Independent Journalism Center; lawyers Veronica Mihailov-Moraru and Eduard Digore; Amnesty International Moldova and others.