The meeting of the Central Election Commission (CEC), where this refused to register the initiative group for organizing a legislative referendum on the annulment of the mixed-member electoral system, showed that the Commission lost its independence, said Stefan Gligor, chairman of the initiative group’s Executive Bureau. CEC member Andrei Volentir said he does not comment on these accusations. The exchange of replies was made in the program “Emphasis on today” on TVR Moldova channel, IPN reports.
According to Stefan Gligor, the CEC assumed powers that belong to the Constitutional Court and Parliament and this is against the law. “When the group was initiated, it wasn’t clear how much the government feared the people. This exercise showed two important things: that the powered lives in a parallel world with most of the citizens of this country and creates a parallel reality that is fully separated from what is going on in the country and that it fears the citizens the most,” stated Stefan Gligor.
Referring to the CEC argument according to which the electoral legislation should not be modified a year before the elections, programs director at Promo-LEX Association Pavel Postica said the return to a system that was implemented in Moldova for ten years and which the voters know very well does not mean modification of the electoral system. “If the referendum was held, this would be a test for our society, which would either accept or reject this system. If the referendum failed, we would recognize the mixed system at national level. Namely by such exercises can we reach the national consensus required by the Venice Commission,” stated Pavel Postica.
CEC member Andrei Volentir said the main elements based on which the Commission took the decision were the ambiguity of the Constitution’s provision concerning the holding of referendums and the impetrative to have stability in the electoral system before an ordinary elections.
On March 12, the CEC rejected the application to register the initiative group for organizing a national legislative referendum. The institution’s press release says they established that the initiative didn’t meet the provisions of the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters adopted by the Venice Commission. This stipulates that the fundamental elements of the electoral law, especially the electoral system, composition of electoral commissions and constitution of electoral districts, should not be amended at least one year before the elections.
