PLDM will hold meeting to constitute an initiative group that will initiate national referendum

The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM) on February 23 will hold a meeting in the square of the National Opera to constitute an initiative group that will initiate a national referendum for modifying the stipulations of the Constitution regarding the election of the President of Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. At a news conference on February 12, the party’s leader Vlad Filat said that meeting, which forms part of the recently launched campaign “Moldova without Voronin, Moldova without Communists”, is very important and will constitute the first broad public event held by PLDM. Vlad Filat said that the PLDM members from all the districts as well as the people that are in favour of modifying the method of electing the head of state are invited to the meeting. Later, the members of the initiative group will be issued with permits and will start collecting signatures. Alexandru Tanase, the first deputy president of PLDM and president of the Liberal-Democratic faction in the Chisinau Council, presented the bill for amending the Constitution that was worked our by an initiative group. Under the bill, the President of the country must be elected by universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed vote. The head of state would not have the right to hold another paid post while in office and to be member of a political party. The President could be elected only for two consecutive terms. The bill proposes amending article 60 of the Constitution so that the Parliament is composed of 101 MPs – 51 elected from a single national constituency and 50 from uninominal constituencies The PLDM leaders said that no political organisation subscribed to the party’s appeal launched early in February. The appeal called on President Vladimir Voronin to ensure transparency in the talks on the settlement of the Transnistrian dispute. Therefore, PLDM readdresses the same appeal to the Democratic parties and to the nongovernmental organisations. Vladimir Filat said that even if no other party subscribes to the appeal, PLDM will publicly transmit it to the President 10 days later. At a news conference on the same day, the Social-Political Movement for Nation and Country described the initiative on the amendment of the Constitutions and the Electoral Code put forward by PLDM as populist