{"id":443998,"date":"2017-06-19T19:27:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T19:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=443998"},"modified":"2017-06-19T19:27:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T19:27:37","slug":"venice-commission-odihr-draft-law-mixed-electoral-system-moldova-raises-significant-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/venice-commission-odihr-draft-law-mixed-electoral-system-moldova-raises-significant-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Venice Commission, ODIHR: Draft law on mixed electoral system in Moldova raises significant concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

On June 16th, the Venice Commission on Democracy through Law, the Council of Europe’s constitutional law body, adopted a critical opinion on the draft law proposed by Democrats and Socialists of Moldova<\/a> to introduce a mixed electoral system.<\/p>\n

During the plenary meeting, the speaker of the Moldovan Parliament had the opportunity to defend the switch to mixed electoral system in front of the experts of the Commission and the OSCE Office for Demcoratic Institutions and Human Rights. Nevertheless, the joint opinion of the European constitutional lawyers concluded that the proposed reform raises significant concerns, primarily in regard to little political consensus and vulnerability of MPs to business interests.<\/p>\n

Emphasizing that the reform is still a sovereign decision of Moldova, the Commission expressed several problematic points in its full commentary<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“-In the present Moldovan context, the proposed reform could potentially have a\u00a0<\/em>negative effect at the constituency level, where independent majoritarian candidates\u00a0<\/em>may develop links with or be influenced by business people or other actors who follow\u00a0<\/em>their own separate interests;<\/em>
\n-The responsibility vested with the CEC to establish single-mandate constituencies for\u00a0<\/em>the majoritarian component is based on vague criteria that pose a risk of political\u00a0<\/em>influence on this aspect of the work of the CEC;<\/em>
\n-Detailed and comprehensive criteria for the establishment of constituencies for the\u00a0<\/em>Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova and for citizens abroad are not\u00a0<\/em>stipulated;<\/em>
\n-The thresholds for parliamentary representation in the proportional component\u00a0<\/em>remain high;<\/em>
\n-Proposed changes are unlikely to enhance the representation of women in the<\/em>
\nParliament, and no additional special measures are introduced to compensate for<\/em>
\nthis.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The opinion reads that there would be additional concerns in regard to the transfer of responsibility for control over campaign finance from the Central Electoral Commission to district electoral councils, the formation of the single-member constituencies, but also the contradiction to the Constitution of the provision for the recalled of the elected candidates.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the experts reminded that the previous recommendations for the electoral system had not been taken in account and implemented in the domain of regulation and oversight of political parties and campaign finances.<\/p>\n

The mixed electoral system was proposed<\/a> by the President Igor Dodon and his former Socialist fellows, supposedly in contradiction with the uninominal system<\/a> proposed by the Moldovan Democrats. Eventually, the Socialists and the Democrats made a\u00a0large compromise\u00a0<\/em>and combined their votes<\/a> to adopt the mixed electoral system switch on May 5th, triggering protests<\/a> of the opposition and the civil society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>On June 16th, the Venice Commission on Democracy through Law, the Council of Europe’s constitutional law body, adopted a critical opinion on the draft law proposed by Democrats and Socialists of Moldova to introduce a mixed electoral system. During the plenary meeting, the speaker of the Moldovan Parliament had the opportunity to defend the switch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":441871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-443998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-important-en","category-politics"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

On June 16th, the Venice Commission on Democracy through Law, the Council of Europe’s constitutional law body, adopted a critical opinion on the draft law proposed by Democrats and Socialists of Moldova<\/a> to introduce a mixed electoral system.<\/p>\n

During the plenary meeting, the speaker of the Moldovan Parliament had the opportunity to defend the switch to mixed electoral system in front of the experts of the Commission and the OSCE Office for Demcoratic Institutions and Human Rights. Nevertheless, the joint opinion of the European constitutional lawyers concluded that the proposed reform raises significant concerns, primarily in regard to little political consensus and vulnerability of MPs to business interests.<\/p>\n

Emphasizing that the reform is still a sovereign decision of Moldova, the Commission expressed several problematic points in its full commentary<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“-In the present Moldovan context, the proposed reform could potentially have a\u00a0<\/em>negative effect at the constituency level, where independent majoritarian candidates\u00a0<\/em>may develop links with or be influenced by business people or other actors who follow\u00a0<\/em>their own separate interests;<\/em>
\n-The responsibility vested with the CEC to establish single-mandate constituencies for\u00a0<\/em>the majoritarian component is based on vague criteria that pose a risk of political\u00a0<\/em>influence on this aspect of the work of the CEC;<\/em>
\n-Detailed and comprehensive criteria for the establishment of constituencies for the\u00a0<\/em>Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova and for citizens abroad are not\u00a0<\/em>stipulated;<\/em>
\n-The thresholds for parliamentary representation in the proportional component\u00a0<\/em>remain high;<\/em>
\n-Proposed changes are unlikely to enhance the representation of women in the<\/em>
\nParliament, and no additional special measures are introduced to compensate for<\/em>
\nthis.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The opinion reads that there would be additional concerns in regard to the transfer of responsibility for control over campaign finance from the Central Electoral Commission to district electoral councils, the formation of the single-member constituencies, but also the contradiction to the Constitution of the provision for the recalled of the elected candidates.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the experts reminded that the previous recommendations for the electoral system had not been taken in account and implemented in the domain of regulation and oversight of political parties and campaign finances.<\/p>\n

The mixed electoral system was proposed<\/a> by the President Igor Dodon and his former Socialist fellows, supposedly in contradiction with the uninominal system<\/a> proposed by the Moldovan Democrats. Eventually, the Socialists and the Democrats made a\u00a0large compromise\u00a0<\/em>and combined their votes<\/a> to adopt the mixed electoral system switch on May 5th, triggering protests<\/a> of the opposition and the civil society.<\/p>\n

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