Moldovan stalemate after failed referendum vote (Roundup)

Sep 6, 2010, 12:19 GMT

Chisinau, Moldova/Moscow/Kiev - The government and opposition in the former Soviet republic of Moldova blamed one another on Monday for a failed referendum to reintroduce direct elections for president.

Sunday's referendum registered a voter turnout of 29.05 per cent, lower than the minimum of a third of registered voters required to be valid, the Central Election Committee (CEC) said, according to Infotag Monday.

Turn-out was worst in Moldova's destitute Gagauzia region, inhabited by ethnic Turks, where less than 10 per cent of registered voters actually cast ballots, said CEC spokesman Yury Chokan.

Prime Minister Vlad Filat called for speedy new elections as a way to resolve a long-running political crisis in the country bordering Romania and Ukraine.

Moldova has been without an elected head of state for one and a half years, meaning that legislation approved by parliament cannot be signed into law.

The low turnout came after opposition parties called for a boycott of the vote, and in the face of rising Moldovan voter fatigue - the former Soviet republic now has held three national votes in the last eighteen months.

International observers called the election free and fair, and both coalition and Communist party officials on Monday accepted the election result.

'The referendum was conducted calmly, it was well organised, and it was in keeping with democratic principles,' said Andreas Gross, head of vote monitor delegation sent to Moldova by the Parliamentary Assembly of Europe (PACE).

The failed constitutional referendum would have changed the current system of selecting the president from a vote of parliament, to a direct election open to all registered voters.

An overwhelming majority of voters, 87 per cent, supported changing the constitution so a president is elected directly, Chokan said.

A repeat referendum vote by constitutional statute may not be held for the next two years, the Infotag news agency reported, citing legal experts.

Moldova's parliament by law must now dissolve, and new parliamentary elections must be held, Filat said, according to Interfax.

'In this situation we (the European Parliament) recommend Moldova's government act in accordance with the law and dissolve parliament, and set a date for new parliamentary elections,' Gross said at a Chisinau press conference.

One of the poorest countries in Europe, Moldova has long-term political turmoil. Bloody street riots in April 2009 followed a parliamentary election that gave the Communists victory.

Mass protests against election fraud in the Communists' favour forced a repeat election in July, won by the coalition.

Moldova's governing pro-western reformists and opposition communists have been blocking one another's initiatives in parliament, and the Communist party has refused to give the ruling coalition the single vote necessary to select a president.

Communist party chief and former president Vladimir Voronin accused the government of consisting 'pseudo-politicians'. Parliament Speaker and acting president Mihai Ghimpu accused the Communists of resorting to 'dirty tricks.'

Voronin was jubilant at the referendum's failure, telling Infotag 'Their (the ruling coalition's) usurpation of power and their unwillingness to dissolve parliament has brought the complete bankruptcy of these miserable politicians.'