The People’s Party of the Republic of Moldova (PPRM) has said they will continue to collect signatures in favor of electing the head of state by direct vote despite the existing pressure. The party reacted to the statements of the chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Iurie Ciocan, who said that these signatures will not be accepted, IPN reports.
In a press statement, the PPRM described the statements of the CEC as anticonstitutional pressure exerted on the right to express one’s will. It informed that over 500 signatures were collected at one collection point on the first day of the campaign “You choose the President”, on May 21.
“The signature collection campaign shows that the people really want to elect the head of state by direct vote. We need a President who will be a veritable leader of the nation, mandated by the whole people, an independent person and a guarantor of the Constitution. The rulers have time to quarrel between them, but do not have time to listen to the people’s voice,” said the leader of the PPRM Alexandru Oleinic.
According to the PPRM, the CEC made threats though the media, which is a method of intimidating the initiators of this action, aimed at defying the party’s work. The party invited the CEC to thoroughly monitor the civic initiative “You choose the President” and the whole process of colleting signatures so as to avoid suspicions and groundless attacks on the part of the political forces that oppose this initiative.
CEC chairman Iurie Ciocan told the press that the signatures that will be submitted by the members of the PPRM will not be legally valid as the Commission received no application asking registering an initiative group that will collect signatures and they don’t know what intentions this party has.
