A referendum that could have solved a one-and-a-half year-old political deadlock in Moldova, which could not elect a head of state for lack of parliamentary majority, has failed.
Several attempts to elect a successor to Communist leader Vladimir Voronin, who stepped down in September last year after completing two consecutive four-year presidential terms, failed.
Marian Lupu, the candidate fielded by the pro-Western four-party ruling coalition, is just one vote short of a 61-member majority required to get elected to the 101-member-Parliament.
It called for a referendum on a constitutional amendment, so that the current system of selecting the President from a vote of Parliament could be replaced by a direct election open to all registered voters.
But the referendum held on Sunday became invalid, as it failed to register a one-third voter turnout.
The Central Election Committee (CEC) said only 30.98 per cent of the registered voters participated in the referendum. The Communists-led Opposition parties called for a boycott of the vote.
Prime Minister Vlad Filat called for an early snap poll as a way out of the impasse. A failure to achieve a breakthrough has deepened the poor European country's constitutional crisis.
The Constitution requires Moldova's Parliament to dissolve itself and hold new elections if the legislature is unable to elect a President in two attempts.
The last general election was held in July 2009, the second in four months, that reversed the swing in favor of the pro-Western Opposition coalition, ending a nine-year rule by the Communists.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.