Moldova Delays Parliamentary Elections Until 2019

Moldova lawmakers on Friday, the last day before the summer recess, voted to reschedule the next parliamentary elections to February 24, 2019. Initially, the election should have taken place by the end of November.

The decision comes after the majority in parliament voted no less than 50 draft bills in just two days - Thursday and Friday.

Opposition MPs almost entirely left the chamber in protest against the hasty and untransparent way in which important laws were being adopted in the last two days of the parliamentary session.

The most controversial law was the fiscal reform package, in particular, the Fiscal Amnesty Law, that now allows people who obtained illicit money and goods to legalize them by paying a 3-per-cent paid tax to the state.

Together with a law already in function granting Moldovan citizenship for 100,000 euros or 250,000 euros of investments, the law changes have concerned Moldova's Western partners such as EU, the US and the IMF.

All of these institutions on Thursday evening issued statements condemning the fiscal reforms voted by the parliament.

"The Moldovan people have already suffered the consequences of major financial crimes. Criminals should be punished, not rewarded. The Moldovan people deserve better," the US embassy in Chisinau wrote on its Facebook page.

Political analyst Igor Munteanu told BIRN that there were several motives for such political moves by the ruling party - moving the elections to February 2019, including concerns about the turnout. He added that the ruling Democratic Party also needed more time to organize the electoral lists in the various constituencies.

According to the constitution, the legislature is elected for a four-year term. The mandate of the current...