CEC orders printing of additional subscription lists for collecting signatures for national referendum
The Central Election Commission (CEC) made a decision ordering the printing of an additional 10,000 copies of the subscription lists for collecting signatures for the national constitutional referendum, on April 8, Info-Prim Neo reports.
Earlier, after the initiative group’s proposal to hold a national constitutional referendum was accepted, CEC decided to print 8,000 copies of lists for collecting signatures, including 2,000 in Romanian and 2,000 in Russian.
The president of the executive bureau of the initiative group for organizing the national constitutional referendum, Vladimir Filat, filed an application to CEC asking to print 10,000 subscription lists more on April 2. According to the CEC members, Vladimir Filat said that the 8,000 lists printed earlier were not enough to involve all the members of the initiative group in collecting signatures.
Under the Electoral Code, CEC must accept such an application in order to create conditions for collecting signatures for organizing the national constitutional referendum.
Every list contains 30 signatures. The decision made on April 8 means that CEC will print 10,000 copies of subscription lists, which is another 300,000 signatures that the initiative group could collect for holding the national constitutional referendum. In accordance with the Electoral Code, at least 200,000 signatures of Moldovans eligible to vote must be collected to initiate a national referendum.
According to the CEC’s decision of March 18, the signatures will be collected between March 24 and June 23.
On March 18, CEC registered the people’s initiative group for holding the national referendum for modifying the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova.
On February 23, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) set up an initiative group for holding a national referendum for amending the constitutional stipulations regarding the election of the President of Moldova and of the MPs.
PLDM proposes amending the Constitution so that the President of Moldova is elected by direct vote by the population and not by the Parliament as it is done at present. The party also suggests introducing a mixed electoral system so that 51 MPs are elected in one national constituency (as they are elected at present), while 50 MPs in uninominal constituencies.