Moldovan lawmakers on July 31 passed a bill that prevents the leaders of a Russia-backed party that was banned by the Constitutional Court from running in elections for a period of five years.
The court declared the Shor party "unconstitutional" last month and dissolved it amid moves by Moldova to reduce the influence of Russia, which has held considerable sway in the former Soviet republic since the fall of the Soviet Union.
On July 31, 54 lawmakers from the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) voted in the second and final reading of a law that bans Shor party leaders from running in elections for a period of five years. The first reading, passed on July 14, initially provided for only three years of interdiction.
"This is an important step toward removing this corrupt and criminal tumor from Moldovan politics," speaker Igor Grosu of PAS said after the vote.
The 27-strong pro-Russian opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists left the plenary session before the vote, while the six former members of the Shor Party have been boycotting parliament since their party was outlawed.
The ban targets the executive leadership of the party and those eligible to run for parliament.
The measure is seen as a move to counter the fugitive party leader Ilan Shor's announcement that he had founded another political group after the Constitutional Court outlawed the Shor Party and said it would run in the next election in 2025.
Shor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes, has organized months of anti-government protests with the aim toppling pro-Western President Maia Sandu and a new reformist government appointed in February.
Shor is reported to currently live in Israel.