{"id":444899,"date":"2017-11-21T23:26:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T23:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=444899"},"modified":"2017-11-21T23:26:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T23:26:25","slug":"civil-society-groups-start-collecting-signatures-referendum-abolishing-new-mixed-electoral-system-moldova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/civil-society-groups-start-collecting-signatures-referendum-abolishing-new-mixed-electoral-system-moldova\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil society groups start collecting signatures for a referendum on abolishing the new mixed electoral system in Moldova"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

On November 21st, several representatives of different non-governmental organizations announced an initiative of collecting signatures for a referendum on abolishing the controversial mixed electoral system in Moldova. The NGOs expect to collect at least 200 thousand signatures to start the legislative referendum, reports Agora.md<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It is a citizens’ initiative without any political shade. We propose to cancel the biggest democratic abuse in the history of this country- which is the mixed system… We can make history: for the first time in our history, the citizens would annul a law adopted by the Parliament”<\/em>, declared Sergiu Tofilat, one of the initiators.<\/p>\n

The referendum is seen by the civil society as the only tool allowed by the Constitution and the Electoral Code for the citizens to intervene\u00a0when the Parliament turns its back to those who gave the mandate<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The initiators of the referendum think that the Democratic Party changed the electoral system because it understood it would not enter the next Parliament with a 4% public support. According to them, the whole Parliament that adopted the so-called Law nr.154<\/a> on the mixed electoral system can be considered illegitimate because about a quarter of the deputies changed their caucuses in the meantime.<\/p>\n

According to the new electoral system, 51 MPs would be elected from electoral districts and 50 from party lists. The current edition of the electoral law also stipulates that the electoral districts would be formed by a special Government commission, composed of civil society and political parties\u2019 representatives, as well as representatives of ethnic minorities and expert bodies. The shape of the electoral districts would be published one year before the elections. Voters from Transnistria and from abroad would be represented on the geographical basis, besides their electoral \u201cweight\u201d. 7 electoral debates have been organized to debate the draft on the mixed electoral system, but a large part of the civil society and all opposition parties refused to participate and had little involvement stating that the new system does not address the real problems of the electoral process. The Venice Commission\u00a0strongly advised<\/a>\u00a0the Moldovan authorities not to implement the mixed electoral system at the current moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>On November 21st, several representatives of different non-governmental organizations announced an initiative of collecting signatures for a referendum on abolishing the controversial mixed electoral system in Moldova. The NGOs expect to collect at least 200 thousand signatures to start the legislative referendum, reports Agora.md. “It is a citizens’ initiative without any political shade. We propose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":444900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-444899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-important"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

On November 21st, several representatives of different non-governmental organizations announced an initiative of collecting signatures for a referendum on abolishing the controversial mixed electoral system in Moldova. The NGOs expect to collect at least 200 thousand signatures to start the legislative referendum, reports Agora.md<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It is a citizens’ initiative without any political shade. We propose to cancel the biggest democratic abuse in the history of this country- which is the mixed system… We can make history: for the first time in our history, the citizens would annul a law adopted by the Parliament”<\/em>, declared Sergiu Tofilat, one of the initiators.<\/p>\n

The referendum is seen by the civil society as the only tool allowed by the Constitution and the Electoral Code for the citizens to intervene\u00a0when the Parliament turns its back to those who gave the mandate<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The initiators of the referendum think that the Democratic Party changed the electoral system because it understood it would not enter the next Parliament with a 4% public support. According to them, the whole Parliament that adopted the so-called Law nr.154<\/a> on the mixed electoral system can be considered illegitimate because about a quarter of the deputies changed their caucuses in the meantime.<\/p>\n

According to the new electoral system, 51 MPs would be elected from electoral districts and 50 from party lists. The current edition of the electoral law also stipulates that the electoral districts would be formed by a special Government commission, composed of civil society and political parties\u2019 representatives, as well as representatives of ethnic minorities and expert bodies. The shape of the electoral districts would be published one year before the elections. Voters from Transnistria and from abroad would be represented on the geographical basis, besides their electoral \u201cweight\u201d. 7 electoral debates have been organized to debate the draft on the mixed electoral system, but a large part of the civil society and all opposition parties refused to participate and had little involvement stating that the new system does not address the real problems of the electoral process. The Venice Commission\u00a0strongly advised<\/a>\u00a0the Moldovan authorities not to implement the mixed electoral system at the current moment.<\/p>\n

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