Voter corruption, manipulation through the mass media and hate speech can occur in any type of elections –parliamentary, local or presidential – and these should be removed. This is the goal pursued by the NGOs that signed a public call to amend the Election Code, said Pavel Postica, programs director at “Promo-LEX” Association. As regards the Democratic Party’s initiative to replace the electoral system by introducing uninominal voting, this refers to the parliamentary elections only. But what should be done first is to remove the basic efficiencies, Postica stated in a news conference at IPN.
According to him, the electoral system can be modified only as a result of clear studies and analyses, where to present arguments for and against. The electoral system should not be modified before removing the current electoral shortcomings or in parallel with their elimination.
“The goal is to obtain the removal of the deficiencies existing in the electoral legislation. When these are removed, we can speak about the amendment of the electoral system,” stated Pavel Postica. Or else, a bigger problem is generated. Any amendment of the electoral code envisions the modification of the rules of the game, which should be understood both by politicians and voters.
Nadine Gogu, executive director of the Independent Journalism Center, said the NGO she represents is interested in amending the Election Code’s provisions concerning the covering of elections by the mass media. The Center in 2012 and 2013 formulated amendments to the Election Code, but these weren’t registered as a legislative initiative. If the working group that is proposed to be set up for amending the electoral legislation is functional, this should center on the conduct of the mass media in elections.
A number of 18 civil society organizations, including “Promo-LEX”, East Europe Foundation, the Independent Journalism Center, the Association for Participatory Democracy and the Institute for Public Policy, on February 2 made a public call whereby they requested Parliament to constitute a working group for improving the electoral legislation.
