The Party of Socialists (PSRM) expresses of profound indignation at the Government’s decision to establish only 11 polling places for the upcoming parliamentary elections on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to the PSRM, only at most 10% of the Moldovans in Russia will be able to vote at the 11 polling places, IPN reports.
Referring to the geographical distribution of the 11 polling places, the Socialists said not more than 3% of the Moldovans who stay in Russian permanently or temporarily will be able to vote. “This way, the Euro-unionist regime in the Republic of Moldova prevents once again the hundreds of thousands of people who live on the territory of the Russian Federation from fulfilling their duty of citizen and from exercising their right to vote in the parliamentary elections. This is a serious violation of the constitutional rights of the country’s citizens to elect and be elected. This circumstance casts doubt on the process of organizing and holding the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019 and their results,” the PSRM says in a press release.
The party announced it will challenge the given decision as it considers it discriminatory. At the same time, the PSRM calls on all the Moldovans in Russia to return home before the elections and to vote at home and to also report serious violations of the right to vote. The Socialists consider at least 100 polling places should be established in Russia, which is proportional to the number of Moldovans in this country according to official reports.
A number of 125 polling places will be established abroad for the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019, according to a decision approved by the Government on January 18. The largest number of polling places will be opened in Italy (29), Romania and the U.S (by 12), the Russian Federation (11), France (seven), Portugal and Spain (by five). Four polling places will be established in the UK, by three in Ukraine, Canada and Turkey and by two in Israel, Belgium, Czech Republic, Belarus, Ireland, and Germany. By one polling place will be set up in Greece, China, Azerbaijan, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Qatar, Japan, Croatia, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, and Norway.
