2010 Moldovan constitutional referendum
Open-knowledge reference entry
A nationwide referendum was held in Moldova on 5 September 2010 on whether or not the country should amend the Constitution of Moldova to return to direct popular election of the president. Since 2001, the president had been indirectly elected by Parliament, with a supermajority of 61 seats (three-fifths of the membership) required for election. The voters are asked to answer the following question: "Would you agree with the Constitutional amendment, which would allow the election of the President of the Republic of Moldova by the entire population?" Voters chose one of the proposed options: "Yes (for)" or "No (against)". Of those who had cast their vote, 87.83% chose "Yes". However, the referendum did not pass because only 30.29% of voters turned out, short of the necessary 33% for the referendum to be considered valid.
Background
As the constitution cannot be changed by parliamentary vote against the will of the opposition Communist Party (PCRM), which holds enough seats to block any constitutional changes by parliamentary vote, the ruling coalition decided to bypass it by holding a referendum on the question.
The new Constitution was initially adopted by the Parliament by 50+1 votes. A national referendum was then approved by a simple majority in parliament for the people to express their opinion on the new Constitution.
The proposal also changed the name of the state language from "Moldovan" to "Romanian." According to Ghimpu, the Romanian language must be the official language of Moldova.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe reacted initially favorably to a proposed constitutional reform, in particular to revise the existing procedure of electing president of the republic.
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