Activity of the Parliament on December 16–31, 2006

Appointments

The Parliament has appointed members of the Board of Observers of the national public broadcasting company TeleRadio-Moldova, with at least 3/5 lawmakers voting every candidate selected by the competent parliamentary commission. The Parliament appointed Ludmila Barbus (for a 3-year term); Alexandru Burean (2 years); Viorel Cibotaru (2 years); Veaceslav Ionita (2 years); Anatol Dubrovschi (3 years); Boris Focsa (4 years); Victoria Musteata (3 years); Igor Munteanu (4 years); Mariana Slopac (4 years). The Board of Observers has the following tasks: approves the statute of the company; assesses the performance of the company and its administration; confirms the chairman of the company, director of the radio department and director of television, etc., on basis of a contest.

Legislative acts

Package of laws on local public administration reform: law on administrative decentralisation; law on local public administration (it also includes provisions on district city halls and councils of the Chisinau municipality, apparatus of the municipal council); law modifying legislative acts on local public finances; law on regional development. The document derives from the action plan on fulfilment of commitments toward the Council of Europe, with speaker saying that by adopting these legislative acts, all commitments on “reform and local autonomy” are honoured.
Law on general security of products. The law establishes the general legal framework ensuring the security of products sold in Moldova and it is applied at the extent of absence of technical regulations on security of these products.
Law on activity of technical regulation. It explains the legal bases of technical regulation with the purpose to eliminate technical barriers on way of trade. The law establishes general requirements on composition and mode of regulation and supervision and protection of domestic market against dangerous, counterfeited products and those unfitting the prescribed and/ or declared requirements. The technical regulation is a prerogative of the state.
Law on public debt, state guarantees and state re-crediting. The document explains the public debt, regulates its reference, establishes the goal, mode of contracting, disbursement, reimbursement, registration and administration of state debt, granting of state guarantees and re-crediting of means raised from state loans.
Law on mandatory civil responsibility insurance for damages produced by motor vehicles. The document regulates the legal relations between insurers, insured persons and individuals and legal entities that derive from mandatory motor civil responsibility insurance for damages produced by motor vehicles, as well as the mode of implementation of this insurance.
Law on insurance. The document regulates the organisation and functioning of insurance, insurance-reinsurance and reinsurance societies, as well as activity of insurance and/ or reinsurance intermediaries, organisation and functioning of the supervision authority, supervision of activity of insurers and re-insurers working inside or outside of Moldova, supervision of activity of intermediaries of insurance and reinsurance and other related activities.
Law completing the law on abolition of visa regime for citizens of some states. The Parliament has decided to include the citizens of Norway and Iceland in the category of persons allowed to enter Moldova without visas.
Law on modification and completion of the Parliament’s Regulation. The document has introduced many amendments declared to be needed for a better legislative activity and activity of working bodies of the Parliament. The law was adopted by Communist, Christian Democratic and Democratic factions. The faction of the Our Moldova Alliance (OMA), lawmakers representing the Social Liberal Party and the Party of Social Democracy, as well as unaffiliated parliamentarians boycotted that sitting of the Parliament, describing the draft and amendments as undemocratic, abusive and limitative and claiming that they neglect amendments and rights of opposition lawmakers unaffiliated to parliamentary factions. OMA faction said that it will contest the law in the Constitutional Court.
Law on ratification of the framework agreement on foreign assistance between Moldovan Government and the Commission of European Communities. The Ministry of Economy and Commerce will take the measures needed to implement this agreement.
Law annulling some old debts included in the object of the memorandum agreement, of some enterprises that implement reorganisation plans. Enterprises which honour their commitments and implement reorganisation plans (16 businesses overall, penalties and sanctions in the amount of over 40 million lei and more than 6 million dollars) are exempted from all old penalties and financial sanctions (accordingly to data for January 1, 2006), calculated and unpaid to the state and state welfare budgets, included in the object of memorandum agreements signed with the Board of Creditors.
Laws modifying and completing the law on pay system in budgetary sector: the law was completed with provisions that:
- prolong the term when salaries must grow (till December 1, 2007, January 1, 2008, January 1, 2010); annul certain additional payments for public functionaries (for speaking some foreign languages); introduce additional remunerations (30 percent of the basic salary) for public functionaries from localities from the left bank of the Dniester river controlled by Moldova. The parliamentary opposition has criticised the decision that postpones salary rises, saying that the Government’s arguments regarding the shortage of funds in the 2007 budget are not cogent since salaries do not cover the consumption basket and the governance distributed about 350 million lei to the National Bank and a state-owned enterprise in late 2006. Representatives of the Communist faction replied that they will ask the Government to take measures in order to identify additional funds in the process of execution of the 2007 state budget.
- introduced 200-leu monthly indemnities for personalities who hold the titles “of People” and “Master of Art”. Holders of the titles “Honour Person”, “Skilful Master” and “Master of Literature” will be paid 100-leu indemnities a month.
Law modifying and completing the law on making and trading of ethyl alcohol and spirits. It introduces provisions on: record of quantity of made production and concentration of alcohol through measurement, registration and control systems with fiscal memory, legalised and verified from metrological viewpoint accordingly to requirements from normative acts and documents; storage and delivery of spirits in bulk to domestic and foreign markets by producers of alcohol production only; regulation of exportation of raw wine and grape wine in bulk by Government; introduction of some restrictions for retail sale of spirits, etc.
Law on mandatory health insurance funds for 2007. The price of a policy will grow by about 400 lei compared with 2006, which the state will pay for mandatory health insurance premiums of persons who look after 1st-degree disabled children under 16 at home and mothers who have at least seven children.
Decision on status, structure, estimate and limit of salary of members and workers of the electronic media watchdog CCA. It approves the regulation on procedure and requirements for issuance of broadcasting licences and retransmission authorisations, the 2007 budget of CCA (about 2 million lei), staff of the CCA apparatus, etc.
Law modifying the law that ensures military and members of command body and troops of interior affairs bodies with pensions. It stipulates the annual indexation of pensions on April 1, depending on growth of the consumer price index for the precedent year. The implementation of this law in 2007 will cost about 42 million lei.
Parliament’s decision approving the action plan on implementation of the 2007–09 national strategy on the prevention and combat of corruption. The plan includes chapters seeking: improvement of legislative framework and ensured implementation of legislation; prevention of corruption in public institutions and private sector; intensification of cooperation between public institutions and civil society; extension of international cooperation.
Draft law on political parties. The draft was tabled by representatives of the Communist and Christian Democratic factions, being promoted emergently without public and preliminary debates, the emergency being motivated with the need to implement the action plan on fulfilment of recommendations and commitments toward the Council of Europe. The essential innovation of the document envisages the financing of parties from state budget depending on electoral performances. Lawmakers representing the Our Moldova Alliance, the Social Liberal Party and the Party of Social Democracy, unaffiliated parliamentarians criticised this document, warning against imperfect provisions, discordance with constitutional norms, international practices and recommendations. Developers of this document did not comment on opportunity of promoting a new draft since the Parliament has earlier passed in the first reading a new complex law on parties and other social political organisations promoted by Government (Government Decision # 780 from 02.09.2000), but noted that the included innovations aim to enhance transparency of parties, their responsibility, financial support from public budget. The document will be sent to the Council of Europe for expertise and it will be examined in the final reading later.
Draft law on administration and privatisation of public property. It regulates relations related to administration and privatisation of public property in non-budgetary sector of national economy (gaining, exercising and ceasing of the property right of state and/ or administrative territorial units; privatisation of public property will include the transmission of public patrimony for private property (privatisation) and granting of public services, transmission to property of administrative territorial units. The public patrimony except for public finances, patrimony of public institutions, farm land and residences will fall under incidence of this law.

Totals of activity

Totals made by parliamentary factions

Eugenia Ostapciuc, chairwoman of the parliamentary faction representing the Communist Party of Moldova, has said that the Parliament adopted a number of legislative acts of major importance, remarking distinctly the 2007 state budget law. She acknowledged that parliamentarians have also approved some legislative acts with a “certain negative impact on some categories of population”, but their implementation will improve the life of residents.

Serafim Urechean, chairman of the Our Moldova Alliance, has noted that other opposition parliamentary forces avoid criticism against governance, while chief of state did not want to attend the festive plenary sitting. Urechean considers that the rescuing trends registered at the end of the year are due to citizens and foreign partners, international organisations that support Moldova, rather than to Government’s efforts.

Valentina Buliga, representative of the parliamentary faction of the Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM), has described the Parliament’s activity as productive, though the majority does not hear the opposition sometimes. DPM will call for a constructive approach of problems related to the Power-Opposition relations, considering the boycott and bitter criticism as inefficient measures.

Iurie Rosca, chairman of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (CDPP), has outlined two key accomplishments in his speech: political stability and partnership between Power and Opposition. CDPP has understood much better that all economic and social difficulties must be tackled constructively in order to find practical and lasting solutions. Rosca noted that the Power and Opposition have solitarily voted for the first time in 15 years of independence the state budget law that included a majority of proposals and amendments by CDPP. He also highlighted the cooperation in implementing the Broadcasting Code, modification of legislation on local autonomy, improvement of Parliament’s Regulation, adoption of a new law on political parties in the first reading. The considerable financial support of donor institutions and state is a success of interior and foreign policy, it is a response to the “atmosphere of cooperation and political stability due to the Power-Opposition partnership.”

Totals made by speaker

Marian Lupu has revealed quantity parameters in his speech: the Parliament adopted 168 legislative acts, including 22 new laws, at 27 plenary sittings from the autumn session. The main documents include: the 2007 state budget law; the 2007 state welfare budget law; the 2007 law on mandatory health insurance funds; the law on public debt, state guarantees and state re-crediting; the law on technical regulation activity; the law on general security of products.

The implementation of the legislative action programme that results from Moldova’s tasks as a member of the Council of Europe included amendments on judicial reform (adoption of the law on status of penal investigation officer and law on international legal assistance in penal matters), consolidation of local autonomy (the package contains the law on administrative decentralisation; the new law on local public administration and the law on modification of the law on local public finances, the law on regional development), amendments and completions to the Parliament’s Regulation, recent adoption in the first reading of the law on political parties. The legislative programme was partly implemented in 2006 because the Government did not present a number of drafts included in this programme and this situation raises the concern of lawmakers and requires a more serious approach, especially regarding adjustment of legislation to the “acquis communautaire”.

The speaker considers that more attention should be paid in future to exercising of the parliamentary control function, and new tools are needed for this purpose. The prospects include the start of some projects aimed to analyse the socio-economic impact of legislation, to diagnose their implementation.

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