[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Moldova [official website] on Wednesday validated the recount results of the April 5 election in which the Communist Party won 60 of the 101 parliamentary seats. The court issued two acts [MOLDPRES report], which cannot be appealed and are official as of the day adopted, confirming the results and validating the terms of the new members of parliament. According to the recount, the country's Communist Party obtained 49.98 percent of the votes out of a 57.4 percent voter turnout. The parliament must elect the new president with 61 votes, and if it is unable to do so within three attempts, the Moldovan Constitution [text] mandates that parliament be dissolved and general elections held again. The European Council Presidency [official website] called on [press release] the Moldovan government and the opposition "to start a dialogue that would restore calm in Moldova." Amnesty International [advocacy website] has urged Moldovan authorities to protect detainees [press release] blamed for the electoral riots from torture and ill-treatment by the police.

Earlier this month, Moldova's Constitutional Court ordered [JURIST report] the nation's Central Election Commission (CEC) to conduct a recount of the controversial parliamentary election. Opposition groups claimed that falsified voter registration rolls allowed government officials to fabricate votes, and boycotted the recount [Infotag report], opting instead to check voter lists for irregularities. The CEC dismissed the claims and decried attempts [MOLDPRES report] of opposition members to submit documents alleging proof of electoral fraud only minutes before official results [press release] were announced Tuesday. Some international groups, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) [official website], had approved [OSCE report, PDF] the voting process as being generally fair.