REFERENDUM ON CANCELING MIXED ELECTION SYSTEM IS BUT JURIDICAL NONSENSE, DEMOCRATS MAINTAIN

A nation-wide referendum on cancelling the just introduced mixed election system is but a nonsense from the legal point of view and is a purely populist enterprise, Democratic Party Press Secretary Vitalie Gamurari stated to journalists on Tuesday following a meeting of the Democratic Party leadership.

Gamurari voiced surprise that "this bizarre initiative of several non-governmental organizations and some political parties has strangely united pro-European associations and Left forces. It is also paradoxical that this initiative runs contrary to what Moldova citizens had wanted for a long time and to what many political parties had promised citizens - a direct election of candidates". The DP Press secretary said that such a nation-wide referendum will require about 60 million lei, and the Moldovan leadership has no even a slightest desire to waste such a sum from the State Budget.

"Besides this, the mixed election system cannot be changed now because the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, to which our civil society activists address so often, strongly recommends not making any changes in the electoral legislation in shorter than one year before elections. Besides this, the Law on transition to the mixed election system may not be cancelled, either, because it is already bearing legal effects", said Gamurari.

The DP Press Secretary offered an opinion that the non-governmental organizations should pay attention to the outcome of the November 19 municipal referendum on dismissing Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, "and should understand at last that such populist ideas do not find the population's support".

"Let them try and hold such a referendum at their own expense to comprehend how expensive such things really are. We presume that the said parties are supporting the idea of such a referendum only because they have no reliable, popular representatives in the localities", said Vitalie Gamurari.