Activity of the Parliament on October 16–31, 2007

Appointments

The Parliament has given green light to a proposal by the chief of state to appoint Artur Resetnicov as director of the Information and Security Service for a 5-year term. Previously, Resetnicov was presidential advisor for legal affairs.

Legal acts

Law on state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. It regulates the procedure of state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, the keeping of state registers of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, and establishes the legal status of the state registration body and registrar.

Draft law on draft state budget law for 2008. The document backed by the major parliamentary faction alone establishes a series of macroeconomic indicators for next year, in particular, a 9.3 percent inflation rate; a 12.2 lei/1 dollar exchange rate; estimated revenues worth 14,658,000,000 lei, expenses worth 4,881,000,000, a 0.5 percent GDP deficit. It forecasts a 6 percent rise of the Gross Domestic Product, up to 56.8 billion lei. The medium salary on economy shall grow by approximately 23 percent. Approximately 1.2 billion lei is foreseen for the implementation of the budgetary pay law; salaries of teachers and doctors, allocations for social programmes shall grow. Opposition parliamentary factions have sought higher revenues, allocations for local public administration and a larger reserve fund for agriculture^[1].

Draft law on vegetal regnum. The document approved in the first reading aims to contribute to healthcare, protection and well-being of animals, obliging individuals and legal entities holding animals to respect legal requirements and sanitary-veterinary norms. The document also stipulates the creation of a central supervision authority called the Sanitary Veterinary and Food Security Agency on basis of the State Veterinary Inspectorate and district/municipal sanitary-veterinary services.

Draft law on modification and completion of certain legal acts (status of foreigners).

The document adopted in the first reading regulates the documentation of beneficiaries of humanitarian aid in Moldova (who hold identity and travel cards).

Parliamentary control. Statements

Hearings

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI) reported a considerable rise of the number of Moldovan youths participating in the international Work and Travel programme (approximately 44,000 visas for 2007) and leave for the United States. MFAEI, the Moldovan Embassy in Washington and the U.S. Department of State have established a mechanism to operatively study the complaints of Moldovan students participating in this programme, as they signal violation of their rights by employers or intermediary companies.

Answering a question regarding the legality of a clause from an agreement signed between Soroca representatives of two political parties, in which members of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova pledge to contribute to issuance of a licence for the Granite and Stone Quarry in Soroca, the Ministry of Justice said that a conclusion regarding an eventual legal responsibility of the persons who signed this agreement is impossible. At the same time, the deputy minister of justice did not gainsay the supposition that this issue will be treated as a “political corruption” element.

Questions. Interpellations

Parliamentarian Valentina Cusnir has asked the Government to report on completion of the special fund from the change of destination of farm land in 2006–07, used to work the new fields (amounts, fields, legal acts, sources).

Democratic parliamentarian Valentina Buliga has asked the Government to report on sentencing of Moldova by ECHR, causes and future measures to stop such losses.

Lawmakers Valentina Stratan and Igor Klipii have demanded explanations why investigations on a traffic accident involving the presidential car are delayed and demanded competent authorities to file criminal charges against persons who cleaned up the traces of this accident and violated the effective legislation.

Deputy Vladimir Filat has asked the Government Apparatus to present a complete list of special number plates issued until now and of users of these transports.

Christian Democratic Deputy Vlad Cubreacov has asked the prime minister to report on fulfilment of Moldova’s commitments towards the Council of Europe, in particular concerning the religious freedom (Cubreacov invoked the blocking of the process of registration of religious denominations and their components).

Our Moldova Deputy Alexandru Lipcan has asked the Government to report on legal status of fields located between the barbed wire and the state border on the Proute River and perspectives to change the boundaries of administrative territorial units in order to transmit them these fields.

Our Moldova Deputy Gheorghe Susarenco has asked the Government to report on non-execution of executory titles worth over one million lei by the Ministry of Education and Youth. He also blamed Minister Victor Tvircun for the illegal dismissal of more than ten headmasters to whom law courts have awarded victory but the judgments are unexecuted so far.

Communist Deputy Vladimir Panfilov has asked the Prosecutor-General’s Office to ensure the security of parliamentarian Ion Neagu and former legislator Sergiu Burca, as their lives are threatened in connection with some statements regarding the disappearance of Christian Democratic parliamentarian Vlad Cubreacov in 2002.

Statements

Our Moldova Deputy Gheorghe Susarenco has protested in connection with breaches committed by Parliament’s leadership during plenary sittings, since it obstructs the opposition and gives priority to representatives of the Communist majority to address.

Deputy Vitalia Pavlicenco has read a statement concerning the anti-Romania hysteria of the communist regime, raising a deep concern of the National Liberal Party with actions of Moldovan authorities.

The Our Moldova Alliance (OMA) faction has said that the debates on the draft state budget law for 2008 should be preceded by several conditions, in particular, a preliminary in-depth study and discussion; live broadcasting on public radio and TV channels; the presence of all district and municipality heads in the Parliament in order to take an attitude.

Three unaffiliated lawmakers, members of the Social Liberal Party, joined the parliamentary faction of the Democratic Party of Moldova. At the same time, it was reiterated the idea to build a political centre in future through the merger of these parties and joining of other parties with similar doctrines.

↑ ADEPT has plans to release soon an in-depth analysis on the draft state budget law for 2008 in order to comment this document.

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