In the January 29 meeting with the joint delegation of the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights), a number of representatives of the groups of Moldova’s Parliament expressed their dissatisfaction with the way in which the mixed-member electoral system was introduced, IPN reports.
According to Liberal-Democratic MP Iurie Tap, the party he represents considers the electoral system was modified in nontransparent conditions, based on an agreement between the Democratic Party and the Party of Socialists, with the aim of achieving own goals. Also, the extraparliamentary parties weren’t represented on the commission for delimiting constituencies for the parliamentary elections.
Liberal Ion Apostol, secretary general of the Liberal Party, said they believe the mixed electoral system violates the principle of equality of the vote and this will enable persons to enter Parliament with different numbers of votes. They are also not satisfied with the arbitrary criterion for establishing constituencies and with the way in which elections are held in Transnistria and the diaspora.
Socialist MP Vlad Batrincea noted that the principle of proportionality and, therefore, the people’s right to choose and be chosen was violated when agreeing the criteria for providing mandates and establishing single-member constituencies. Elections in Moldova should be based on electronic voting in the future.
Sergiu Sirbu, of the Democratic parliamentary group, said the discussions with the members of the joint delegation were constructive as they centered on the implementation of the recommendations of the Venice Commission. The experts of the Venice Commission didn’t speak about the opportunity of replacing the voting system. The discussions focused on such technical aspects as the criteria for delimiting constituencies, including abroad, the state register of voters, the voting procedures for the citizens abroad, etc.
MP Eugen Carpov, of the European People’s Party of Moldova, said the discussions with the Venice Commission experts centered on the implementation of the mixed electoral system, in particular the establishment of constituencies. The experts asked for details about the diaspora’s participation in elections and the voting method for citizens who are not at the place of domicile on the election day.
Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu stated that the current legal framework provides all the conditions needed to ensure the organization and holding of free, fair and democratic elections. A number of rounds of public debates on the electoral system change were held by Parliament and civil society. All the technical-legislative recommendations formulated by the experts of the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR were discussed and included in the amendments to the electoral legislation.
The visit by the joint delegation was paid in connection with the preparation by the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR of the joint opinion on the modified electoral legislation that is to be presented on March 16-17, 2018.
