Parliament adopts amendments to election law

The majority in parliament on Friday adopted an amended law on the election of MPs that introduces preferential voting at parliamentary elections too.

The opposition did not vote on the bill and walked out of parliament because the sponsor, the ruling Social Democratic Party, at the last moment, when voting had already commenced, changed its opinion on a provision banning convicted persons from running in parliamentary elections.

In the end, another amendment proposed by ORaH MP Mirela Holy was sustained whereby when an election is called, anyone who is sentenced to prison for more than six months would be banned from running in the election regardless of whether they were serving the prison term or the prison term was yet to be served.

Anyone who has been convicted of grave crimes or abuse of office and power will not be able to run in elections until their period of rehabilitation has expired.