The Party of Socialists of Moldova does not recognize the result of the referendum on European integration

MADRID 30 Oct. () –

The Party of Socialists of Moldova (PSRM), one of the main political forces in the country, announced this Wednesday that it does not recognize the result of the referendum on the country’s European integration, held ten days ago and in which the ‘yes’ He won with less than 50.4 percent of the votes.

The formation has stressed that the vote was at all times “illegal” because it violates the country’s Constitution, the Electoral Code and the recommendations of the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional issues.

“During the referendum, clearly unequal conditions were created for the participants,” said the PSRM in a statement published on its website in which it maintains that the political parties that defended the ‘no’ vote were prevented from broadcasting videos on television and were They seized their campaign material.

On the contrary, the institutions encouraged the population to vote and support the constitutional reform to pave the way for future accession to the EU. Representatives of the ‘no’ party were prevented from accessing voting centers abroad, while in Russia only two polling stations were enabled.

Despite these conditions in which the vote took place, which the PSRM considers did nothing more than favor those who wanted to approve the plebiscite, the vote barely had 51.7 percent participation, and the ‘no’ was imposed in Moldovan territory, although the vote abroad tipped the results towards ‘yes’. The difference in votes was 11,400.

“In this context, we consider it unacceptable and illegal to modify the Constitution through such amendments. We urge the Action and Solidarity Party (of President Maia Sandu) to abandon this initiative and stop widening the division in society,” stressed the Party of the Socialists of Moldova.

In addition to the referendum for European integration, the Moldovan population was called to the polls to vote in a presidential election in which Sandu obtained 42.5 percent of the votes, thus moving on to a second round in which he will face precisely the PSRM candidate, Alexandru Soianoglo, who took just under 30 percent of the votes.

A delegation of five members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe headed by the Norwegian Jone Blikra will attend the second round of these presidential elections – scheduled for this Sunday – as observers. Representatives from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights will also attend.