The Promo-LEX Association said it supports the changes proposed by a group of MPs to the Election Code, by which the citizens from the diaspora are allowed to take part in elections with any type of identification papers that confirm they hold Moldovan nationality, based both on the identity card and on the passport, even if they are expired. The association presented its position in a press release that is quoted by IPN.
According to Promo-LEX, it supports any legislative initiative aimed at ensuring the voters’ right to freely express their wish. It considers the changes proposed by a group of MPs as a legislative initiative are designed to ensure the active and broader involvement of the Moldovans with the right to vote who are abroad on the election day.
Given that the voters are guaranteed full electoral rights, regardless of their domicile, the Moldavans who live abroad on a permanent or a temporary basis should be allowed to donate and support a particular political group or an initiative group of election runners, as the citizens who live in Moldova can.
On June 26, the Liberal-Democratic MPs introduced into Parliament a bill to add a new article to the Election Code. Under the proposed amendments, if parliamentary and presidential elections and national referendums are held, any citizen of the Republic of Moldova eligible to vote, who is outside the country, will be able to vote at any polling place established abroad, regardless of the status of their stay on the territory of the given state. The citizens from the diaspora should be able to vote with the identity card of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, the temporary identity card with the mention about the nationality of the Republic of Moldova and with the passport for entering or leaving the country.
The elections abroad should be held during two consecutive days – on Saturday and Sunday or on another two consecutive days indicated in election setting document. The polling places established outside the country should be supplied with at least 5,000 ballots, not 3,000 as now. The citizens from the diaspora should be able to finance the favorite candidate or party by contributing the equivalent of at most five official monthly average salaries in the course of a year.
The proposals included in the Lib-Dems’ bill were commented on by representatives of the diaspora in a news conference at IPN. Through the agency of video messages, they asked to amend the legislation.
