​BILL ON CHANGING ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN MOLDOVA SENT TO VENICE COMMISSION

The much-disputed bill on Moldova’s shifting to a new electoral system based on one-mandate constituencies has been sent to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe for an expert examination, Parliament Chairman Andrian Candu announced, speaking over the Moldova-1 public television on Thursday evening.

Candu voiced confidence the document will successfully pass the international expert examination and will be adopted by the Moldovan Parliament within “a reasonable timeframe”.

“In the course of the 2014 parliamentary campaign, the Democratic Party, like some other political parties, promised to change the electoral system in the country. Now a bill to this effect has been written, presented and registered with the Parliament. It has been sent for an international expert examination. We have begun its public discussing. This is going to be a hard discussion but we hope for convincing everybody with the help of sound arguments”, said Andrian Candu.

He emphasized that the bill must be adopted necessarily by the present-day lineup of the Parliament, so that the late-2018 parliamentary election be held according to a new system. Fortunately, there is quite enough time for this job – 18 months until the next ordinary elections.

In his words, the parliamentary majority presently numbers 55 MPs in the 101-member Parliament of Moldova, “and we are counting on the votes of all of the majority deputies. Also, we should take voters’ moods into account: according to recent opinion polls, over 70% citizens support the idea of changing the current electoral system”, stressed Andrian Candu.