Moldova’s prime minister has acknowledged that a referendum to make presidents directly elected has failed, reports BBC News.<\/p>\n
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Although the count was not yet final, Vlad Filat said it was unlikely that the minimum one-third voter turnout would be met.<\/p>\n
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The election commission said turnout was just under 30% with only votes cast abroad left to count.<\/p>\n
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The parliament currently elects the president, but no candidate has won the required 60% majority since last year.<\/p>\n
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“The electorate appears to have been less active than we had hoped,” said Prime Minister Filat, one of the main backers of the referendum.<\/p>\n
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“It seems most likely we will not be able to count on clearing the necessary 33% barrier for recognising the validity of the referendum,” Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n
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The pro-Western liberal governing coalition had proposed the referendum as a way to break Moldova’s political impasse.<\/p>\n
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The country has been without a president since the four-party coalition, the Alliance for European Integration, won a slim majority in the July 2009 general election.<\/p>\n
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Moldova’s Communist Party, led by former President Vladimir Voronin, campaigned against the referendum. The Communists governed from 2001-2009.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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