PLDM asks authorities to open as many polling places abroad as possible

The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM) asks the central authorities to open as many polling stations abroad as possible so as to offer the persons that will not be in the country on the election day the possibility of casting their votes, Info-Prim Neo reports. The PLDM president Vlad Filat told a news conference on Wednesday that a precedent already exists. The Republic of Moldova in 1996, when there were held presidential elections, set up polling places in the Romanian towns of Iasi and Cluj, where there are many Moldovan students. According to the MP, the members of the Association of Moldovan Communities in Ireland, which is home to about 10,000 Moldovans, filed already an application to the Central Election Commission, asking that a polling station is opened in Dublin because Moldova does not have a diplomatic mission in this country. Now, the Moldovans that are temporarily in Ireland have to travel to London to take part in the ballots. “As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the Government have not yet announced their plans, they probably do not intend to open polling places abroad,” the PLDM president said. According to him, the authorities should launch campaigns and inform about the parliamentary elections and the conditions of holding them through the agency of the foreign press, allocating the money needed for the purpose. The PLDM first-vice president Alexandru Tanase said that the party does not ask the authorities to modify the legislation and does not oblige the Government to make impossible efforts. There should be only political will, respect for the citizens living outside the country and acknowledgment of the importance of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” Tanase said, stressing that there is no time left to postpone these actions in continuation. The PLDM members said they are in favor of holding the elections on April 5. A new PLDM member was presented at the same conference. Iurie Leanca had worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova. He criticized the policy aimed at promoting Moldova’s image abroad, pursued by the government during the past eight years. “I decided to go into politics as I want to use the experience I gained,” Leanca said. He also said that he chose the PLDM because the party’s political program contains ideas similar to his and its team is professional and integral. The new PLDM member, who is the vice president of the Financial and Industrial Group “Ascom” SA, said that he will leave his post for the period of the election campaign so as not to leave space for rumors. Iurie Leanca stated that he was not offered a management post in the party, but Vlad Filat said that he will be included in the list of the PLDM candidates for the future Government.