Four years since the latest round of
\nlegislative elections held in late 2014, the Moldovan Parliament will have a
\nnew membership. The elections of February 24 will be based, for the first time,
\non the mixed voting system, with 50 MPs elected on party lists and 51 others
\nelected in their constituencies, by means of uninominal voting, in only one
\nround. Simultaneously with the elections, a referendum will be held on downsizing
\nthe number of MPs from 101 to 61 and introducing the possibility of citizens
\nremoving them. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Just like before in Moldova (set up on part of the Romanian
\neastern territories annexed by the former Soviet Union in 1940, following an
\nultimatum) the ballot will express not only a political but also a
\ngeo-political choice. Opinion polls on voting intention show that only four
\npolitical parties stand chances of being represented in the new Moldovan
\nParliament. The pro-Russian Socialists of president Dodon are the favourites,
\nwith some 40% of the voting intentions, followed by the ACUM bloc, an electoral
\ncartel of the pro-European right wing, with some 25% and the West-leaning
\nleft-of-centre Democratic Party, the senior party in the ruling coalition, with
\n15%. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Consequently, the Republic of Moldova is again at a critical moment in its
\ndevelopment, and internal and external forces are trying to destabilise and
\ndivide society, the US ambassador to Chisinau, Derek J. Hogan, has overtly
\nwarned. Just like Bucharest and Brussels, Washington deems the parliamentary
\nelections as a crucial test. The American diplomat has also said the United
\nStates calls on the authorities at all levels, to ensure a free, fair and
\ntransparent electoral process, for all the candidates to have the chance to participate
\nin this process on an equal footing, without fearing harassment or
\nintimidation. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, Andrian Candu (a member
\nof the Democratic Party), has expressed confidence that the Republic of Moldova
\nwill have a pro-western government after the elections too, even if the ballot is
\nto be won by the Socialists, because they will not have the necessary number of
\nvotes to form a majority. He has added that Chisinau’s European commitment is
\nso strong that it is ready to relinquish the reintegration of the pro-Russian
\nregion of Transdniester (in the east), which actually took out from under the
\ncentral authorities’ control as early as 1992, following an armed conflict
\nwhich left hundreds of dead and which was ended by the intervention of Moscow’s
\ntroops, on the separatists’ side. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On behalf of neighbouring Romania, the
\nRomanian ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ioni\u0163\u0103, has also promised that in the
\ncurrent semester, when Romania is holding the rotating presidency of the
\nCouncil of the European Union, the neighbouring republic will enjoy a special
\nplace on this presidency’s agenda.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for February 24 in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":70165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[34435,31291,28920,39563],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-80620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-february-24","tag-parliamentary-elections","tag-the-republic-of-moldova","tag-us-ambassador-derek-j-hogan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n