On Sunday, Moldova held a referendum to decide whether or not to reintroduce the direct election of the president. The change was not approved.

It seems as if a turnout of 33.3 per cent was needed for any result to be binding. The Central Election Commission is reporting that the turnout was 30.98 per cent. Of those voting, there is a report that the ‘yes’ vote won 87.5 per cent.

The Communists asked voters to abstain. In the end, there were also problems within the coalition, which originally sponsored the reform.

So, Moldova has not returned to semi-presidentialism.