The Socialist Party will propose in the Parliament, on Monday, to reduce the number of deputies in the Parliament by more than one-third and to ban the party-switching. The opposition criticized the initiative that aims to reduce the number of deputies in the parliament, stating that the Socialist Party is using this issue to divert attention from the real problems in the country.

The Socialist Party, which is currently governing with the Democratic Party, wants to reduce the number of deputies in the parliament by more than one-third. The Socialists propose to change the Constitution.

“We consider that a smaller number of deputies will ensure a bigger degree of transparency. People will know more, what every deputy is doing. This will benefit the national budget and we will save hundreds of thousands of euros,” deputy Vlad Batrîncea, from the Socialist Party, advocated for the initiative to reduce the number of deputies. 

The opposition parties criticized the initiatives proposed by the Socialist Party. Deputy Sergiu Litvinenco, from the Action and Solidarity Party parliamentary faction, stated that the initiative to reduce the number of deputies coming from the Socialist Party is an attempt to divert attention from the important things happening in Moldova.   

Reducing the number of deputies might not save much money, but it will damage representative democracy, limiting the access of ethnic minorities to the decision-making process.

The Socialist Party also wants to ban party-switching, asking the Democratic Party, the Action and Solidarity Party, and the Dignity and Truth Platform Party to support the initiative on July 6, 2020. 

The two proposals of the Socialist Party come after the former Socialist Party, Ștefan Gațcan, left the Socialist Party and joined the Pro Moldova Party, led by Plahotniuc’s godson, Andrian Candu. However, after several hours, Gațcan gave up his mandate and left the country.

Moldova’s Parliament has 101 deputies. The Socialist Party wants to cut the number up to 61 deputies. The former leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc, also wanted to reduce the number of deputies in the parliament to 61 deputies. Subsequently, during the parliamentary elections in February 2019, people could vote for a referendum to reduce the number of deputies in the parliament, but the initiative wasn’t so popular among people so the referendum failed. 

In 2017, President Igor Dodon wanted to hold a referendum and ask four questions among which was the initiative to reduce the number of deputies in the parliament. Back then, the Constitutional Court declared the plebiscite unconstitutional because the questions exceeded the attributions of the head of the state.