Moldovan authorities propose referendum on transition to nationwide election of president

CHISINAU, January 29. /TASS/. Speaker of the Moldovan parliament Andrian Candu has put forward an initiative on Friday to hold a constitutional referendum on the issue of the transfer to the president’s nationwide election. Under the current procedure, the Moldovan head of state is elected by the parliament. Candu made this statement at a parliament briefing devoted to the negotiations with the leaders of the opposition protesting in Chisinau. The protesters demand the president’s election in a national vote, resignation of the government and early parliamentary elections.

"After a number of consultations with lawyers the parliamentary majority came to the conclusion that the referendum on the election of the president in a nationwide vote may be held. "We’ll raise this issue at the next parliament meeting," Candu said. According to him, the authorities are also ready to meet other demands of the opposition. "We are ready to give them an opportunity to participate in the work of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and other institutions," the speaker said. At the same time, he flatly rejected the demands of the protesters to hold early elections of the parliament and government. "The demands of the resignation of the parliament and government cannot be fulfilled - it would plunge the country into a deep political and economic crisis," the Moldovan parliament head said.

He expressed regret that the leaders of the protesters rejected his proposal to hold negotiations on Friday morning that should be focused on the search for ways of removing the emerged contradictions. "I wanted to tell the leaders of the protesters about the government’s initiatives, but they refused," the official said.

On Thursday, Moldova’s opposition refused to meet the authorities who did not react to its ultimatum on the government resignation and early parliamentary elections, Igor Dodon, the leader of the Party of Socialists; Renato Usatii, the Our Party leader; and the center right Civil Platform DA (Dignity and Truth) Andrei Nastase told a joint news conference. "Parliamentary Speaker Andrian Candu had got in touch with us two hours before the ultimatum expired. He invited us to come to the state residence for talks scheduled for 09:00 [10:00 Moscow time] on Friday to discuss ways out of political crisis. The authorities ignored our demands. We, in turn, invited Candu to come to a civil forum which is gathering tomorrow to discuss further protests," DA leader Andrei Nastase said. "The authorities have ignored the opposition’s ultimatum. The protests will continue," Dodon said.