​PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN MOLDOVA WILL BE HELD NEXT OCTOBER 30, PARLIAMENT DECIDES

The next ordinary presidential election in the Republic of Moldova will take place on October 30, 2016, the 101-member Moldovan Parliament decided on Friday.

The decision was approved by merely 50 MPs representing the Democrats-led parliamentary majority. But as the plenary meeting was attended by only 90 deputies, the fifty appeared to be sufficient for having a simple majority of MPs in the room.

The Parliament’s decision will come into legal force on July 30 – 90 days before the election date, and that day will mark the start of a presidential campaign – a period to be devoted to the raising of signatures in favor of candidates, their registration, canvassing and so forth.

Presenting the election date bill, one of its authors, Democrat Sergiu Sirbu, said that the parliamentary majority has decided to announce the date long in advance so that to exclude all possible speculations on the issue as well as rumors that there will allegedly be no direct presidential election at all.

Sirbu also refuted accusations by the opposition that the authorities are allegedly trying to set an election date convenient for them so that not to provide equal conditions for all election runners.

The Democrat also disagreed with the opposition’s arguments that the parliamentary majority is allegedly changing the rules of the game during the game.

“The game you mean will in fact start on July 30. After that date, no rules shall be changed. And before it, we suggest adopting all necessary laws so as to ensure proper conditions for election holding”, said Sergiu Sirbu.

Before the presidential campaign starts, the Parliament is yet supposed to pass a large number of related laws and amendments to the legislation in force namely a new law on presidential elections, a new Chapter to the Election Code, other laws. Last week, the Parliament formed an ad hoc commission, which is supposed to sum up relevant information and documents and work out proposals for the Parliament by mid-April.

All this needs to be done because on March 4 the Constitutional Court recognized as non-constitutional the amendments to the Main Law, adopted by the Parliament on July 5, 2000. According to those amendments, Moldova switched over to electing the head of state in parliament. Now, in virtue of the Constitutional Court’s new decision, the country is returning to electing the nation leader by the whole nation.

The Constitutional Court also confirmed that President Nicolae Timofti shall continue performing presidential duties until the moment when the next head of state will be sworn in.

Direct presidential elections were held in Moldova in 1991 and 1996. And in 2001, 2005 and 2012, presidents were elected in parliament. Due to the Parliament’s inability to elect president by three-fifths of deputies’ ballots, in 2009 and 2010 the Moldovan legislatures were dissolved, and the country held two early parliamentary elections.