Page 20 - Demo

Opinion
June 30, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
Is Moldova’s new election system
a threat to democracy?
Dumitru Alaiba of the Policy and Reform Center and Natalia Otel Belan of the Center for International Private Enterprise
More than 25 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Moldova is a story of democratic transition success that never was.
The same goes for the currently planned electoral reform. From the outside, it may seem like
a positive move, but its citizens are feeling the squeeze as the country appears to be moving toward autocracy. The new uninominal electoral system is seen by civil society as a virtual power grab by the country’s corrupt elites. Citizens have been out on the streets for weeks, protesting the change and asking Moldova’s allies in the West to back their cause.
Moldova’s parliament voted on May 5 to change the country’s electoral system from a proportional representation system to a uninominal system, or a combination of both systems. With parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2018, this change appears to be an attempt at gerrymandering. The Council of Europe’s constitutional law experts, known as the Venice Commission, concluded on June 16 that the planned electoral changes could lead to undue influence by political or business interests. The Venice Commission released its full opinions on June 19.
The purpose of Moldova’s electoral reform is to ensure the advantage of the party in power. Be- cause the uninominal system requires candidates to win across districts, it demands considerable
Planned reforms will help the highly unpopular Democratic party keep its majority in Moldova's parliament.
funding. Therefore, this system will favour candi- dates with the financial backing of those in power, while putting emerging opposition parties at a significant disadvantage. The electoral change will increase the risk of electoral fraud, give independ- ent candidates no choice but to join the governing Democratic Party, and diminish the role of the diaspora in elections.
The modification to the electoral system is seen by many to be in the interest of a select number of oligarchs, not the citizens of Moldova. The change could strike a direct blow to democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and the press, the fight against corruption and the investigation of finan- cial crimes. Over the long term, this could reduce the country’s economic stability and drive popula- tion loss due to migration.
Before the vote in the parliament on the new re- form, several civil society organisations sounded the alarm about the risks of the proposed reform. Protests broke out, with several hundred people gathering daily. In one week, the protests swelled to thousands.
The authorities dedicated serious efforts to preventing people from joining the protest. For
the first time in years, activists were intimidated, police installed roadblocks on national roads, local trains were stopped, and drivers transporting protesters were sanctioned for bizarre illegalities.