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Snap elections are inevitable in Ukraine and Moldova, but improbable in Georgia, opinion


https://www.ipn.md/index.php/en/snap-elections-are-inevitable-in-ukraine-and-moldova-but-improbable-7978_1048915.html

The snap parliamentary elections were already included in the agenda of the Ukrainian political scene for July 21, 2019. The same event can swiftly occur in Moldova when the deadlines for activating Parliament expire, expert in political sciences Dionis Cenușa said in a feature for IPN News Agency.

He noted that President Dodon is clarifying the legal deadline for dissolving Parliament in June and for later announcing snap election. Under the electoral legislation, the elections could take place in the autumn of 2019.

Dionis Cenușa compares the situation in Moldova with that in Georgia. If Ivanishvili’s party is massively deserted, the snap elections before the ordinary elections planned for 2020 could become an attractive idea, especially because it allows using the mixed voting system that is valid until 2024.

President Zelensky plans to transfer the success of the presidential elections to his party “People’s Servant”, using the snap elections agreed for July 21. A friendly Parliament would enable him to adopt the populist measurers promised to the people in the election campaign, stated the expert.

Also, snap elections are inevitable in Moldova, where the impossibility of forming a coalition can lead to the dissolution of the Parliament elected on February 24, 2019.

The early elections risk having a destructive character as the keeping of the mixed vote will maintain practically the same result for the tree main political forces: PSRM – 35 seats, PDM – 30 and ACUM (PAS and DA Platform) – 26.

From this viewpoint, the existing political crisis would not be solved, but only delayed and, respectively, perpetuated. Together with this, the possibility of restoring the foreign financing would be postponed. At the same time, the political destabilization in the country keeps discouraging the investors and has a stimulating impact on emigration flows, argued Dionis Cenușa.

The snap elections for Georgia can serve only as an attempt to restore the social contact with the people, who more often protest for better living and working conditions.

The Georgian polls show the Georgian Dream is supported by only 21%, while the United National Movement by 15%. On the other hand, of the list of 37 politicians, oligarch Ivanishvili is perceived most negatively - 39%. The snap elections are a saving solution, but could enable Ivanishvili to cut the opposition’s élan.

The snap elections can be used to re-construct the political system if the proportional representation system is restored to counterbalance the instruments of influence that the oligarchic groups in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia possess, concluded the expert.