Liberal Democratic Party MP Vadim Pistrinciuc says that the mixed voting system, recently adopted by the Parliament, is a huge mistake for Moldova. He stresses that the bill was passed by the Socialists and Democrats in spite of the recommendations of the Venice Commission and warnings from high-ranking EU officials, IPN reports.
“I think this mixed system is poorly designed and came at the wrong time. Its only goal is to preserve power in the hands of the current government, being tailored to the needs of the Democratic and the Socialist parties. I can’t find any reasons for doubting that the next elections will be held in this format because the government’s direct and indirect “investments” are too high. The damage it suffered for passing this bill is too big to pull back, even though it would be the wise thing to do. It would show that they are not willing to sacrifice their relationship with the European partners for the sake of political tricks. It would show an attempt to mask this initiative as a way to give more rights to the people when, in truth, it’s a way to strengthen the system and the risk of rigged elections is very high”, the MP explained during an interview for Radio Free Europe.
According to Pistrinciuc, the governing party, by quietly allying with the Socialists and passing this bill, lost the trust of European parties, EU institutions and officials and this is a long-term loss. He thinks that the government might manage to squeeze a bit of funding, but not enough for Moldova to overcome its slump and to develop at a decent pace.
The MP is saddened by society’s deep mistrust of the government. He thinks the people’s feeling of intimidation can be an opportunity for opposition parties to accumulate trust and to plan for coming to power and governing, but the future is uncertain. “It’s not predictable. If it was predictable that this bill would raise such a strong negative reaction in Europe, that it would hurt our relationship, it would have been predictable for them to stop, if we are thinking from the point of view of the state, of state theory. But they did what they wanted”, said the parliamentarian.
Vadim Pistrinciuc disagrees that the Socialists would win the elections in the proportional format. He thinks this is a propaganda trick launched by the Democrats, who want to convince the people that if the system isn’t changed, the Socialists will win. “On the contrary, it is them who are advantaged by the new system”, said the MP.
