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It was imperative to amend electoral legislation after invalidation of Chisinau mayoral elections, opinion


https://www.ipn.md/en/it-was-imperative-to-amend-electoral-legislation-after-invalidation-of-7965_1045184.html

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Valeriu Giletski, who is a member of the Parliamentary European People’s Group, said it was imperative to constitute a parliamentary commission and to amend the election legislation following the invalidation of the early mayoral elections in Chisinau municipality . The issue was developed in the talk show “Red button” on the public TV channel Moldova 1, IPN reports.

The politician said the proposed amendments should be applied in the parliamentary elections of 2019 because there are fears the elections could be voided.

The president of the Democratic Action Party Mihai Godea said the voters cannot be influenced by agitation so much on the election day and the day before the election day. These changes, if they are adopted by Parliament, should be applied in the next elections, not in the elections of next February so as to follow the recommendations of Venice Commission concerning the amendment of the electoral legislation.

Socialist MP Andrian Lebedinski said the annulment of the election and pre-election silence will not bring value added to political parties. “If this decision is taken, we will comply. If agitation on the election day is allowed, we will profit from this method. If it is banned, we will respect all the legal provisions,” stated the Socialist.

Editorialist Nicolae Negru considers the justice system is the one that should be changed as the courts of law invalidated the mayoral elections in Chisinau. “The court interpreted a legal provisions in a hazardous, probably incompetent way. The judge will find another reason or method for invalidating the elections if he is allowed to. So, justice should be changed,” he stated.

On November 7, the Parliament’s legal commission for appointments and immunities approved a bill to amend an article of the Election Code and exclude the “silence day”, which is the day before the election day, when electoral agitation is banned. The problem appeared after the courts of law invalidated the Chisinau mayoral elections for the reason that the PPDA leader Andrei Năstase campaigned on the “silence day”.