CHISINAU – The Moldovan parliament has passed at third and final reading a law on going back to a proportionate system of elections and some other amendments to the Electoral Code, an Interfax correspondent reported on August 15.
The law was initiated by a parliamentary majority after the administration changed.
Besides going back to holding parliamentary elections only by party lists, the law envisages some other changes to improve the proportionate system that existed before 2017.
Specifically, the articles dealing with compulsory provision of inaccessibility certificates will be removed from the Electoral Code. Instead of that, candidates will sign statements on the absence of conflicts of interests and bans on working in state posts under their personal liability. The provisions adopted in November 2018, which scrap days of silence before elections and prohibit election campaigning on voting days, will also be scrapped.
The new provisions of the Electoral Code provide that citizens of Moldova who live abroad can vote on expired passports and on valid IDs and military IDs. This applies to parliamentary and presidential elections and republican referenda.
Besides, the threshold for parties to get into the parliament will be reduced from 6 percent to 5 percent, and for electoral blocs it will be reduced from 8 percent to 7 percent.
A special provision on gender equality was included in the Electoral Code. All four parties will be obligated to include in the list of candidates at least four women in every ten candidates.
At the same time, the election to local bodies of authority scheduled for October 20 will take place without regard for the changes adopted now.
According to earlier reports, a mixed electoral system was adopted by the Moldovan parliament in July 2017 by deputies of the Democratic Party, the European People’s Party and the Socialist Party. The changes were sharply criticized by civil society and the opposition, as well as development partners and international institutions, in particular, the European Commission.
