Chisinau must take a firm line on Moscow’s intention to open polling stations in Transnistria, PLDM says

The Moldovan authorities should adopt a principled approach and not limit themselves to formal statements as regards Moscow’s intention to set up polling stations for Russia’s March presidential elections on the left bank of the Nistru, the vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) Iulian Fruntasu said at a news conference on January 29, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. PLDM does not deny the Russian citizens’ right to vote, but the government has a moral obligation to protect Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Fruntasu stressed. He drew attention to the fact that this decision was taken shortly after President Vladimir Voronin’s visit to Russia, where he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. No details of the meeting of the two heads of state are known owing to lack of transparency, but we now see that Moscow intends to open again polling stations in the breakaway region of Transdniestria, the cited source said. A responsible president must consult all the democratic forces when he goes to Brussels or Moscow and discusses issues like Moldova’s European integration or the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. The lack of transparency proves once again that the Communist regime is authoritarian and strives to preserve the power, he said. The PLDM leader Vlad Filat said that the party’s Central Standing Bureau decided to launch the campaign “Moldova without Voronin, Moldova without Communists”, which will include a wide range of activities aimed at removing the Communists from power in 2009. One of the activities will be the setting up of a working group that would collect signatures for holding a national referendum on the modification of the system of electing the head of state and the MPs. According to PLDM, as the president is elected by the Parliament, he is not a representative figure and is not responsible to the people but to the MPs that voted him. Another problem is the impossibility of electing the president if no party holds a majority in the Parliament, as it happened in the Chisinau Municipal Council after the local elections of June 2007. PLDM proposes instituting a joint system for electing the members of Parliament so that half of them are elected on party lists and the other half by electoral constituences. Speaking about Moldova’s accession to NATO, Filat said that the people must make such a decision by referendum. Meanwhile, the authorities and political parties are obliged to inform the citizens about this organisation. The government should assume responsibility and carry out a broad campaign, not as it is done at present, he said. The Ministry of Justice registered PLDM on January 25.