In Moldova, they exaggerate the role of the diaspora in elections and, surely, there are political parties that try to make use of this, considers Ala Mandacanu, spokeswoman for the Diaspora Coordination Council that consists of organizations of Moldovans abroad. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, quoted by IPN, Ala Mandacanu says the voter turnout in the parliamentary elections is two times lower than in the presidential elections and no one should expect that the diaspora will decide the fate of elections as this is actually decided here, in Moldova.

Ala Mandacanu, who is also the head of the Moldovan Community in Quebec, said that in Canada, for example, if a person is away for over five years and didn’t declare that they will return they no longer have the right to vote. Also, if a person hasn’t presented tax returns for five years and hasn’t come to the country for at least half a year in the period, this can no longer vote from abroad.

According to her, the current electoral system, which is built on a vertical pyramid of power, is one of the causes for which the Moldovans lost confidence in Parliament. The whole country represents one constituency and the one that enters the political struggle depends not on the voter, but on the party leader. When the electoral system is changed, the constituencies that will be introduced will destroy the vertical pyramid and the people will start to see the own MP.

Ala Mandacanu considers the Republic of Moldova should be divided into nine constituencies on the horizontal that will include Transnistria. One whole constituency should be devoted to the diaspora.

In another development, Ala Mandacanu said persons from the diaspora who do not come here to campaign should not be included in the lists of candidates for elections. She noted that Moldova will either have a European future or will not have this at all as it does not have an alternative. The European road for Moldova is the only appropriate path and what remains outside this is a province that will be another 100 years behind and a territory that no one would want to approach and that would be permanently used against the European Union.