Parliament can modify the electoral system after periods of time shorter than a complete legislature, but the new system cannot be implemented at snap legislative elections. This way, a new electoral system ca be implemented only at ordinary parliamentary elections, on condition that the modification is made at least one year before the elections, the Constitutional Court decided on April 26 following a relevant request made by independent MPs Ion Groza, Alexandr Oleinic and Viorel Melnic, IPN reports.

Under the CC judgement, the often or late modification of the norms that govern the electoral process can disadvantage the voters, electoral contenders and parties and there is a risk that the rights to elect and be elected can be violated. “The modification and introduction of a new electoral system before the snap parliamentary elections poses risks of interference in the unhampered exercise of the electoral rights, implicitly in the legitimate expectation of people to vote and in the legitimate expectation of the candidates in parliamentary elections to run in a particular way and in particular conditions,” says the Court’s decision.

Alexandr Oleinic, one of the authors of the application, after the Court passed its judgement told the reporters that the initiative to modify the electoral system and to hold snap elections is in the interests of some of the political parties that are dissatisfied with the results of the February 24 parliamentary elections. This decision will help the parties to correctly formulate their legislative proposals. Holding snap elections would be a mistake. The parties that entered Parliament should be able to negotiate and form a parliamentary majority.

The Constitutional Court’s judgement is definitive, cannot be challenged, takes effect when it its adopted and is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.