Holding constitutional referendum is a stupid idea, political analyst

Political analyst Arcadie Barbarosie considers the organization of a referendum on amending the constitutional provisions concerning the election of the President in April is not a good idea. “It is a stupid idea that wasn’t well-thought-out. Its aim is to promote Lupu as head of state and to free the post of Head of Parliament for Ghimpu,” Barbarosie stated for Info-Prim Neo. The analyst argued that if the people in this referendum vote against, the alliance will never be able to modify the constitutional article on the election of the head of state. The legislature will amend it neither as the amendments must be approved by referendum. “I don’t understand what the people will be asked in the referendum. We all know that the people want direct elections. If we ask them now if 61 or 51 votes are needed to elect the President, the people will not take part in the voting as they will say they want direct elections. The opposition may also urge the people to participate in the voting, but to vote against,” said the analyst. Arcadie Barbarosie considers that the given initiative looks like usurpation of power. “A referendum was held already, but they did not learn the lesson. Presidential elections were held and the step was taken. But they did not like this step and decided to change the law. They do nothing but change the rules during the game,” he said. According to the analyst, the supreme law clearly says that one of the main obligations is to elect the President. During a year, Moldova did not have a president so that Parliament must be dissolved. Referring to AEI leaders’ statements that they will go from village to village and tell to the people why they should vote in the referendum, the analyst said they should better rule the country appropriately. “They could elect Greceanyi as head of state or, if they did not like her, the Dodon group was ready to vote for other candidates, for example Oazu Nantoi,” said the analyst. The alliance attempted to modify the mechanism for electing the head of state one year and a half ago. The population then voted in favor of electing the head of state directly by the people. The results of the plebiscite were not validated as the voter turnout was less than 1/3.