Home > 5.1.3 Referendum requested by part of the electorate > MOLDOVA - Joint Opinion on the Draft Laws on Amending and Completing Certain Legislative Acts (Electoral System for the Election of the Parliament)
 
 
 
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Paragraph 60
 

Even if draft law No. 60 is not any more on the agenda and further drafts do not provide for recall, the issue has been repeatedly addressed in recent discussions on electoral reform in the Republic of Moldova and therefore deserves to be addressed. Article 941 of draft law No. 60 proposes to enable voters to recall MPs through a local referendum in their constituency. To call such a referendum, Article 182(4) requires the signatures of at least 1/3 of the eligible voters in the relevant uninominal constituency or administrative-territorial unit and a subsequent verification by a court as per Article 186 (3). Successful revocation of a mandate requires the votes of at least half of the voters from the corresponding constituency, but not less than the number of voters who voted when electing the said MP (Article 198(1)). Grounds for revocation of the mandate are given in Article 177(3): “Revocation of a Member of Parliament may be initiated if s/he does not observe the interests of the community in the constituency, does not exercise properly the duties of a Member of Parliament stipulated by law, violates moral and ethical norms, that is factually and properly confirmed”. The proposed draft Law No. 60 would have effectively established a system of general recall of representatives, which in a certain political context, may well function as an imperative mandate. It has to be considered as a political and not a legal procedure. Involving courts in such a procedure would put them at risk to be politicised.