Political analyst Victor Gurau considers the Venice Commission’s opinion on the electoral reform proposal contains clear recommendations on existing problems that take into account the political and territorial-administrative conjuncture because there is the Transnistrian issue and the problem of migration of Moldovans. However, the Venice Commission’s opinion is not free from major political influence on the part of MEPs.
Contacted by IPN, the analyst said a major resentment from European bureaucrats is felt in the Commission’s opinion. The political aspect is mainly felt when, after several pages of recommendations and technical-legal aspects, an allusion that can be interpreted by all the camps is made, namely that the change in the electoral system is not recommended at this moment. This formulation reveals political influence.
According to Victor Gurau, the references made to the lack of broad debates and to the swift adoption in Parliament are political in character because the problem of electoral system change is not new. This issue has been discussed since 2013 and there was no such great interest then, including on the part of civil society or purported civil society.
The analyst considers it is normal for opinions, debates and contradictory discussions to exist as high-quality results can be achieved only by such sociopolitical struggles. It is inadmissible for the foreign factor to use the political relations with a sovereign state. The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign state and the right to adopt the legal framework is sovereign. Only when there are major deviations from the human rights and democratic procedures, can we speak about such terms as dictatorship and criminal regime.
Victor Gurau also said that no bill has been so far debated publicly and analyzed so thoroughly as the draft law to change the electoral system. As regards the broad consensus, this bill was adopted by the votes of 74 MPs and polls show that this is supported by over 60% of the Moldovans.
The full opinion of the Venice Commission on the draft law for Moldova’s electoral system for the election of Parliament was published on June 19. The authors said the draft law was adopted rapidly in Parliament, without the voting being preceded by broad and open debates in society. The Commission does not recommend implementing such a broad reform without a corresponding consensus. The other objections refer to the keeping of a high threshold that advantages big parties and the increase in the number of voters per polling place from 3,000 to 5,000, which, according to the Commission, will hamper the work of electoral functionaries and will increase the probability of irregularities. Among the major risks posed by the draft law, the Commission’s experts mentioned the fact that constituency members of parliament would be vulnerable to being influenced by business interests and the low representation of women in Parliament. In conclusion, the Venice Commission said the change in the electoral system in the proposed form is inopportune.
