The initiative group created by the Civic Platform “Dignity and Truth” for collecting signatures in favor of initiating a constitutional plebiscite on the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova so that it allows for the direct election of the head of state, by the people, was registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on November 20. In the same meeting, the Commission approved the regulations concerning the activity of the given working group, IPN reports.
The initiative group consists of 775 persons who are to collect at least 360,000 signatures during three months. It is headed by the member of the Platform “Dignity and Truth” Andrei Nastase. The group’s deputy head is Platform member Nicolae Garbu, while its secretary is activist Liviu Vovc.
According to the CEC president Iurie Ciocan, 147 persons weren’t accepted as members of the group because the presented data referring to these didn’t correspond to the data in their identification papers or there were presented incomplete data or similar names.
Recently, the Constitutional Court ruled that after the CEC adopts a decision on the initiation of the referendum, Parliament has the constitutional obligation to immediately set the referendum date and to allocate financial resources for holding it, in accordance with the law. Thus, Parliament cannot prevent the people from deciding by referendum if the Constitution should be amended.
The following questions could be put in the plebiscite: “1. Are you for amending Article 60, par. (2) of the Constitution so that the number of MPs is reduced from 101 to 71?; 2. Are you for excluding par. (3) of Article 70 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the MPs cannot be detained, arrested, searched, except for cases of flagrant offenses, or brought to justice without the Parliament’s consent?; 3. Are you for amending and supplementing Article 78 of the Constitution so that it allows for the election of the President of the Republic of Moldova by universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed vote?; 4. Are you for modifying Article 89 of the Constitution so that it allows Parliament to accept an initiative of at least one third of MPs to suspend the President of the Republic of Moldova from post if this violated the Constitution, by holding a referendum on the dismissal of the President within 70 days? – For. – Against”.
