The political parties that responded to President Sandu’s invitation for consultations on the EU accession referendum seem to be in favor of such a plebiscite, but most are against having it bundled with the presidential election.

Following consultations today, participants suggested that the highly competitive nature of the presidential election will affect the nation-unifying drive that the referendum is supposed to have.

Doina Gherman, leader of the PAS parliamentary group, stated that the Action and Solidarity Party supports the referendum and Parliament is ready to initiate the legal procedures to this effect. “There are already some challenges and obviously more will follow, but we believe we can turn them into an opportunity”, said the parliamentarian.

Ion Ceban, president of the National Alternative Movement and also mayor of Chisinau, noted that practically all the participants in the consultations had questions related to the idea of holding the referendum simultaneously with the presidential election. “It was stressed that most European states that are EU members today held this referendum after the negotiation procedure. There have been some suggestions in this regard, but as far as I understand, a decision is already made. I personally conveyed the message that we will support this initiative”, stated Ion Ceban.

Ion Sula, president of the European Social Democratic Party, said that the PSDE is generally in favor. However, the party believes that the president’s initiative to organize this plebiscite in the fall of 2024, on the same day as the presidential election, is a bad idea that carries major risks.

Vasile Costiuc of the Democratia Acasa Party, said that we should all wait for the Constitutional Court to pronounce on the matter first. At any rate, his party believes European integration can be achieved faster through reunification with Romania.

The leader of the Moldovan National Party, Dragoș Galbur, agreed that a combined poll would not be the best idea. “The referendum involves an awareness raising campaign, whereas the presidential election involves bitter campaigning. The presidential election is a competition that will certainly divide us politically, while this referendum, on the contrary, is supposed to be a concerted effort that should consolidate us”, Dragoș Galbur said.

Mihai Ghimpu, honorary president of the Liberal Party, the PL believes that faster integration can take place through union with Romania. In his opinion, the referendum is already a decided matter and it would have been fairer for these consultations to be organized before the referendum was announced.

The representatives of the political bloc recently formed by the Dignity and Truth Platform, the League of Cities and Communes and the Party of Change stated that they support European integration, which must become a national idea, but they, too, are puzzled as to why the referendum and the presidential election need to be held on the same day.