The People’s Party of the Republic of Moldova (PPRM) has announced that it collected 150,000 signatures from citizens from all the country’s districts within the campaign “You choose the country’s president” that was launched on May 16 last year. In a news conference at IPN, the party’s leader Alexandru Oleinic said the results of the campaign are a clear proof that the country needs a president elected by the people, not by politicians.
Alexandru Oleinic stated that the PPRM started the campaign following the situation of three years ago, when Moldova faced a serous political crisis that led to early elections and favored corruption. Moldova was close to compromising the chances of having a European future. The country’s image was seriously affected and it became evident how weak the administrative institutions are.
According to the leader of the PPRM, a head of state named by political parties lacks the independence needed by a political leader. The head of state must be independent from parties and must be a guarantor of the Constitution.
“By putting their signatures within the campaign “You choose the country’s president”, the citizens showed that they can become involved and that they still have hope,” stated Alexandru Oleinic. He added that it wasn’t easy to collect such a large number of signatures as the people lost confidence in the political class and the country’s future.
The PPRM will transmit the lists with signatures to the authorities after the parliamentary elections. Alexandru Oleinic said such a decision was taken in order to prevent the intimidation of the signatories.
The party’s co-chairperson Valeriu Cosarciuc said the election of the head of state by the people will help reduce corruption. When the President is elected by Parliament and when the necessary majority is absent, they start to negotiate in order to buy votes. Thus, the people are corrupted by the representatives from Parliament. The PPRM will continue to honor its commitment to insistently promote the amendment of the Constitution so that it allows for the election of the President by direct vote.
