A crowd gathered today outside People’s Assembly building in Comrat as the Gagauz parliament convened for a meeting. The rally was held in support of Governor Irina Vlah, who had refused to endorse a series of electoral amendments adopted earlier by the Assembly.
One particular amendment raises the voter turnout threshold from 33% to 50% of Gagauzia’s eligible voters. The proposed legislation was passed with little time left until the upcoming gubernatorial election, and the Assembly used that to postpone the date of the vote from May 19 to June 30. The incumbent governor, whose re-election seems certain according to recent polls, has refused to endorse the amendments and protested the date change as foul play.
Speaking today before the Assembly, Vlah cited procedural violations, saying in particular that the proposed legislation had skipped the commission stage.
Following the governor’s address, the Assembly voted to establish a special commission composed of legislators and Executive Committee members in a bid to find consensus.
