MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2018) The initiative to reduce the number of lawmakers is dangerous for Moldova, as it will be easier to bribe them amid resurgence of nationalist sentiments, former President of Moldova and country's communist party leader Vladimir Voronin told Sputnik on Wednesday.
In February 2019, a consultative referendum on the issues of reducing a number of lawmakers from 101 to 61 and their recall in case of breach of their duties will be held in Moldova.
"Together with many other citizens of the country I am concerned about the revival of the policies of unionism and nationalism. I see that it will be easier to bribe the remaining 61 lawmakers in the parliament, to make them vote for that 'Greater Romania', which they have been talking about for 100 years," Voronin said.
In September, about 2,000 supporters of the "Greater Romania" concept of unification of Moldova and Romania went to a rally in Chisinau with the only goal to make the Moldovan Parliament adopt a declaration on the unification of the two states.
The issue of the unification of Moldova and Romania is closely tied to the region's history. March 2018 marked a centenary since the historic decision of the parliament of Bessarabia region of the Russian Empire, which is mostly a part of modern Moldova, to unite with Romania. Moldova was a part of Romania until 1940, when the Romanian authorities agreed to cede Bessarabia to the Soviet Union. The new territories formed the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, which existed until 1991 when it declared independence along with other Soviet republics.
