Activity of the Parliament on October 26 – November 7, 2005

Appointments

Lawmakers appointed Deputy Speakers Iurie Rosca and Maria Postoico as members of the permanent commission for national security, defence and public order. These appointments are based on amendments to the Parliament’s Regulation at the initiative of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PPCD), in line with conditions for election of Moldovan president. These provisions from the Parliament’s Regulation stipulate that a subcommission in charge with parliamentary control on activity of Information and Security Service, headed by a parliamentary opposition representative.
Ivan Cucu was appointed ombudsman at the initiative of lawmakers representing the Party of Moldovan Communists (PCRM), with the support of other opposition factions ((PPCD) and Democratic Party (PD). The Our Moldova Alliance (AMN) faction criticized the appointment of Cucu as ombudsman, fearing that the promotion of a person close to the ruling party politicises the ombudsman institution. Ivan Cucu had worked as lawyer for at least 30 years. He was a member of the Central Election Commission (CEC) in 2003–2005, including deputy chairman of CEC.

Legislative documents

Draft state budget law for 2006. The Parliament past the draft state budget law for 2006 in two readings with the vote of 55 PCRM lawmakers. According to basic indicators included in this document, 9,690.2 billion lei is expected in revenues and 10,024.8 billion lei in spending, and a budgetary deficit of 334.6 million lei is expected next year.

The majority faction alone has voted the document, describing it as realistic, of perspective and of social orientation, (about 60 percent of spending has a social destination). The other factions and parliamentary groups criticized the drafting principles of this document and its developers for lack of new concepts of economic growth and efficient spending of public money. The opposition representatives who turned down the draft raised the following objections among others:

creation of revenues mainly from taxes and value-added for imported goods;
introduction of VAT for a number of imports (drugs and mineral fertilisers);
rise of tax on agricultural production;
introduction of higher duties for importation of agricultural and electronic hardware;
higher spending for public institutions, police and law enforcement bodies;
allocation of very large amounts for reconstruction and modernisation of some administrative and entertainment headquarters;
lower share of investments for real sector of economy.

Some opposition factions did not rule out the possibility to vote the budget law in the final reading, if their proposals and objections are taken into consideration. Even more, PPCD faction representatives said that “it is very important to draft a final version of the state budget law, which all lawmakers would back through consensus, in the spirit of political partnership and cooperation that must be based on interests of entire society.”

Draft state social insurance budget law for 2006. The law adopted in the first reading stipulates revenues and spending in the amount of about 4.5 billion lei, which would be raised on basis of the same principle of “solidarity with mandatory contributions,” unlike cumulative and free systems applied in developed countries. Employers will pay next year 26 percent of the salary fund for people employed through an individual labour contract, while workers will pay 3 percent of the salary for individual insurance. It stipulates an insignificant rise of the single birth indemnity up to 600 lei and a 480-leu annual tax for landowners.

The numbers of births and workers are on the decline in Moldova since the voted law proposes a reduction of the fund for assistance of large families and fund for compensation for work accidents, and a rise of the unemployment fund. According to statistics for nine months of 2005, the population rise is negative, the birth rate is similar to the rate registered in the same period of 2004, while death rate is on the rise. As many as 28,837 children were born in Moldova in the period concerned, while 33,059 persons died.

Opposition representatives criticized the draft law, saying that it is imperfect, discourages youths and growth of population, disfavours farmers and encourages mainly functionaries working in this system. The opposition factions conditioned again the possibility to back the state social insurance budget law for 2006 in the final reading with the support for their proposals and amendments.

Law on measures aimed to improve economic-financial condition of cereal enterprises. The legislative document was tabled in 2004 and seeks the annulment of debts of cereal enterprises towards Finance Ministry, resulted from difference of prices for acquisition of cereals purchased from external credits and existing prices on domestic market during reception.

In 1993–1996, Moldova received external loans from the IMF, EBRD and U.S. Government for acquisition of some cereal products through the PL-480 Programme implemented by the U.S. Government. The total credits are estimated at about 96 million lei and most of them were not reimbursed because of faulty crediting conditions for businesses working in this sector: a preliminary financial analysis was absent; a high percent was established; delivered products had a low quality; the national currency depreciated after 1998; many enterprises working in this sector or partners went bankrupt, etc. The law aims to relieve working cereal enterprises from burden of debts, while collections planned for state budget will drop by about 100 million lei (unreimbursed sum and interests).

Debates on this law raised many objections and proposals in the parliament, including on the need to hold additional controls on mode of administration of these credits, punishment of governmental officials who admit such consequences, and annulment of debt by the U.S. Government, but none of these initiatives and objections were included in the final document.

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Activity of the Parliament on October 26 – November 7, 2005

Appointments

Legislative documents

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