PAD suggests amendments to law on President election procedure

The Democratic Action Party (PAD) proposed amendments to the law on the procedure for electing the President of Moldova, which are aimed at making the election process more transparent and ensuring the rule of law. The amendment proposal was presented by the PAD during public debates on Friday, Info-Prim Neo reports. The party suggests that Article 1 of the law should ban the persons who resigned or were discharged from the post of President of Moldova from running for this position again while the legislature that elected them initially is in office. It also says that Article 2 should specify not only that the elections are held not later than 45 days before the expiration of the President’s term, but also that they must take place by the expiration of the four-year-term of the Acting President. If Parliament is dissolved because it did not elect the head of state, the elections should be held within two months of the validation of the seats of the members of the new legislative body. The Democratic Action Party also proposed a series of amendments concerning the powers of the special commission for organizing the elections. The party’s deputy head Corneliu Gurin said the commission should also ensure the security of the voting process and the secrecy of the vote during the elections. It must invalidate the ballots that are filled in incorrectly or by violating the confidentiality of the vote and issue other ballots instead of them. If the special commission registered no candidate for the presidency within the required period of time, the ordinary elections should be considered failed and new elections should be held within 30 days. According to the PAD, Article 5 of the law should say that if a person puts himself forward for the presidency, he must be supported by a parliamentary group or at least five lawmakers, not 15 as now. The PAD also suggests penalizing the persons who violate the secrecy of the vote in all the types of elections by all kinds of means. The fine should be 600 to 1 000 lei. Next week, the amendment proposal will be signed as a legislative initiative by MP Mihai Godea and other lawmakers who would want and will be then submitted to the Parliament’s Standing Bureau. At the first sitting of Parliament, they will ask including it in the agenda.