Eurasia Press & News
The Parliament Thursday passed amendments to the procedure for electing the President of Moldova in first reading by a majority vote. The parliamentary group of the Communists Party (PCRM) described the bill as abusive and did not back it.
Aurel Baiesu, secretary of the special commission for the election of the head of state and one of the authors of the bill, said that the President could be voted even if there was only one candidate for presidency registered officially. He stressed that the Constitution does not say that there should be at least two candidates.
Vladimir Turcan, MP on behalf of the PCRM, said that it would be normal if there were at least two candidates. He made reference to the Constitutional Court’s decision. Baiesu replied that the given decision has a consultative character and refereed to a particular situation, not a general practice.
The bill also modifies the term during which the candidates can submit the documents for registration – three days before the elections, as against five days earlier.
Only 3/5 of the MPs can attend the special public sitting at which the head of state is to be elected. “If the election of the President becomes impossible owing to objective circumstances, the Parliament can postpone the sitting,” Aurel Baiesu said. If the head of state is not elected at a new sitting, return elections are announced.
The rerun elections take place within 30 days of the last ordinary elections at which the President could not be elected. If the rerun elections fail, the Acting President dissolves the Parliament. During a year, the legislative body can be dissolved only once.
The chairwoman of the parliamentary group of the PCRM said the project is obscure. “I think it was adopted in order to delay the election of the head of state,” Maria Postoiko said.
The MPs of the Alliance for European Integration said the bill removes the shortcomings and ambiguities and enables to correctly hold the presidential elections.
