President Igor Dodon proposes introducing the mixed electoral system according to which half of the MPs will be chosen based on party lists, while the other half by constituencies. In a news conference on April 18, the Head of State said he will not allow the uninominal voting system proposed by the Democratic Party led by Vlad Plahotniuc to be implemented in Moldova, IPN reports.
Igor Dodon said the mixed electoral system keeps the virtues of the proportional representation system, but favors the election of an important number of independent MPs, at district and regional levels. According to his initiative, 51 MPs will be chosen based on party lists, while 50 by territorial constituencies.
“Of the 50 MPs who will be chosen by constituencies, I suggest that half should be from the diaspora and the Transnistrian region. Given that at least one third of the Moldovans are outside the country and in the eastern districts that are not controlled by Chisinau, I think these should be represented by at least 25% of all the MPs. The other 25% will be from districts and from Chisinau,” stated President Dodon.
He said the MPs from the Transnistrian region will be chosen at polling places established in districts and settlements that are under the constitutional control of the Moldovan authorities. “I note that without the involvement and presence of citizens from Transnistria, our Parliament cannot represent the whole country. If we want to reunify the country, we must be more open politically and electorally,” he stated.
According to Igor Dodon, voting in the diaspora will be ensured during two days so as to facilitate access to polling places for the Moldovans who are far away. The polling places abroad should be supplied with 5,000 ballots. For a person to be registered as a candidate for MP, this should collect a minimum number of signatures - 600. The students should be able to vote where they study based on a certificate issued by the education institution. Also, the number of MPs should be decreased from 101 to 71.
“These are the main components of the mixed electoral system I suggest. From now on, I will exert all my political influence to convince different national leaders and the foreign partners to become involved in promoting the mixed voting, to persuade the power to give up introducing the uninominal voting and to accept a compromise solution – mixed voting. I’m convinced that the mixed voting system, 50:50, enjoys the biggest support among the population, as some opinion polls show,” said Igor Dodon.
He requested the government to show wisdom and astuteness, to think about the national interests of the country, to abandon ambitions and narrow party interests. According to him, the initiative of the power is a challenge against the democratic foundations of the state.
In April 2013, on the initiative of Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc, Parliament voted a bill to introduce the mixed electoral system. However, at the start of May the same year, the MPs abrogated the law after the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group insisted on the creation of a commission that would examine the impact of the mixed electoral system, invoking that the bill was passed in a hurry and a number of mistakes were made.
