The parliamentary coalition suggests holding a national referendum for modifying the method of electing the head of state so that the President is chosen by 51 votes of MP. Political expert Lina Grau stated for IPN that this proposal is cynical at a time when most of the parties in the election campaign promised the election of the President by the people and these are now deprived of what they weren’t given.
The draft Parliament decision signed by 49 MPs of the government coalition says that the Government is voted in by 51 votes of MP and the head of state should be elected by as many votes. If the head of state cannot be elected by a simple majority of votes, this will mean that Parliament is not functional and should be dissolved. The authors of the draft decision say this amendment to the Constitution is aimed at avoiding political stalemates, as it happened earlier.
Lina Grau noted that she realizes the goal of such a proposal, but it was put forward too late because the problem of election of the head of state appeared six years ago. Furthermore, the electoral promise was that the people wil be allowed to choose the head of state themselves. “I have the impression that those who are in power play with fire. This is a cynical initiative as they intend to elect the head of state as they want. In the context of the stolen billions and the protests, the interpretation will be that the thieves want to remain in power,” she stated.
As to the outcome of such a referendum, Lina Grau said it will fail because the people will not accept such an amendment or will not go to vote. Two questions should be put in the referendum: if the people want the President to be elected by 51 votes of MP and if they want the head of state to be elected directly by the people. The parties of the ruling alliance probably already reached a relevant agreement as they realize that a new political crisis is possible in half a year and thus decided to avoid this risk by such a method.
The draft decision does not say when such a referendum will take place, but specifies that the people will have to answer the question: “Are you for amending the Constitution so that it allows for the election of the President of the Republic of Moldova by a majority of votes of MP?”.
