A number of civil society organizations have repeated the call to Parliament to hasten the modification of the electoral legislation in accordance with the requests of the Constitutional Court and recommendations of international missions of experts.
In a news conference at IPN, executive director of the Partnership for Development Center Alexei Buzu reminded that 18 nongovernmental organizations at the start of February requested the Speaker of Parliament to constitute a working group for amending the electoral legal framework, but this wasn’t done. There was yet registered a bill that introduces a new electoral system and that addresses no real problem in an appropriate way.
Alexei Buzu noted that the problems signaled by the Constitutional Court refer to political party funding and the method of examining challenges concerning the organization and holding of elections. The improvement of the mechanism of voting abroad and of election campaign covering by the mass media and ensuring of the electoral rights of persons with disabilities are other aspects on which they insist.
Alexei Buzu said in the hearings held in Parliament on March 31, there was noted the inopportunity of modifying the electoral system. They requested to withdraw the bill that proposes introducing the uninominal voting system and focusing on pressing problems. It is not yet clear if the opinions and arguments of civil society were taken into account.
The signatories of the call repeatedly request that Parliament should set up a working group for amending the Election Code and electoral legislation in accordance with the requests of the Constitutional Court. The authors of the bill to introduce the uninominal voting system are asked to withdraw the draft law. If they continue to insist on the modification of the electoral system, debates should be initiated with independent and equidistant experts who would explain the necessity of reforming the system based on an optimal model for the Republic of Moldova.
The signatory organizations are AO Comunitatea “WatchDog.MD”, Association of Independent Press, Partnership for Development Center, Legal Resources Center of Moldova, Center for Politics and Reforms, Institute of Public Policy, Promo-LEX and Transparency International-Moldova.
