A large crowd of people came together before the Parliament Building on May 14 to protest against the modification of the electoral system. The protesters criticized the government for adopting the Democratic Party’s bill on the uninominal voting system and then the Socialists’ bill on the mixed-member system and their merger in breach of the law and in secret. The people said the current government wants to remain in power at any cost. Dozens of police officers were mobilized around the Parliament Building, IPN reports.
The participants in the protest carried placards with such inscriptions as: “Your vote, Plahotniuc’s MP”, “Sop political harassment”, “Shame”, “Rain is not a calamity. You are calamities, thieves”, “PDM and PSRM the same mafia”, “Stop mafia vote” etc.
Arcadie Barbarosie, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy, said the only demand of the protesters is to annul the bills that provide for the modification of the electoral system. The protests will continue until Parliament repeals these bills. When the electoral system is changed, democracy could stop work and at most two parties – of the Democrats and Socialists – will win the legislative elections. The smaller parties will not be represented in the legislative body. “We cannot allow such a situation as long as our country is multiethnic and multi-party,” stated Arcadie Barbarosie.
Lilia Carasciuc, Transparency International Moldova director, said the people should not be indifferent and should unite, especially when it is about democracy or embezzling of public funds and property.
Programs director at the Center for Politics and Reforms Dumitru Alaiba noted that civil society took to the streets because it used up all the possibilities of communication with the authorities. The goal now is to influence things so that these go right and to make the authorities withdraw the two bills.
Vladislav Gribincea, director of the Legal Resources Center, said the government wants to modify the method of choosing MPs so that the parties with money and those that hold administrative control win the next parliamentary elections. If the elections are won by these parties, the people will be deprived of future.
Mihail Sirkeli, executive director of “Piligrim-Demo” Association, said that if the electoral system is changed, the situation when the people weren’t appropriately represented in the local legislature following the elections to choose deputies in the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia can repeat.
Expert Sergiu Tofilat said the authorities created a series of impediments for those who wanted to reach this protest. A driver who was coming from Drochia was stopped by patrolling inspectors on the road to Chisinau for seven times. Also, the administration of Moldova’s Railways suspended the local train routes on May 14 in connection with the unfavorable weather conditions, but the international routes continued to be provided.
The protest organizers, representatives of civil society, said they will stop mounting protests for a period so that the authorities withdraw the bill to modify the electoral system. If these do not, a new protest will be staged on May 28.
According to the organizers, the May 14 protest involved about 3,000 people. A number of parties announced their support for the protest. Among these are the Liberal Democratic Party, the Political Party “Platform Dignity and Truth”, the Party “Action and Solidarity” and “Our Party”.
Contacted by IPN, head of the press service of the Chisinau Police Division Adrian Jovmir said the protest took place without incidents.
