Moldovan parliament speaker comments on new provisions concerning parliament's work

Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu says that the main criticisms raised by the opposition regarding the draft of the new Code on the organization and work of the parliament concern the measures against political party switching. Asked by journalists to comment on the opposition’s discontent, the official said that the other provisions of the draft are used as “window dressing,” while the real problem for opposition MPs is the fight against political party switching.

“The core issue that bothers our esteemed colleagues is the approach against political party switching; everything else is just window dressing. Did they complain that there will be an ‘Opposition Hour’? Did they complain that there will be a ‘Government Hour’?” Igor Grosu said.

The speaker specified that the provisions regarding the lifting of MPs’ immunity would not be changed compared to current practice.

“The revocation of an MP’s mandate will be carried out under the same conditions as before. The prosecutor comes and immunity is lifted,” Grosu said.

In the first reading, MPs voted on the draft Code on the organization and work of the parliament of Moldova. MP Igor Talmazan today presented the document at the plenary meeting. He pointed out that the draft was not a recent one, but the result of a process that had begun almost one decade ago.

The parliamentary opposition criticized the draft and left the session hall.

“In any democratic state, the parliament is a platform for discussions and dialogue, including for expressing different opinions. This is precisely how the parliament works in a democratic country. What you are trying to do today is a direct attempt to silence or diminish the votes of the opposition, and it is very clear that today you have shown that you are bothered by the opposition’s opinions, that you have no counterarguments to the opposition’s speeches and you have demonstrated that under your governance it is impossible to dream of democracy,” said Diana Caraman, MP of the Parliamentary Faction of the Party of Communists.

The parliament has the mission of adopting hundreds of decisions related to the process of European integration – the country’s strategic priority – and the new Code aims to bring order and transparency to the legislative process and to put an end to harmful practices, emphasized Marcel Spatari, chair of commission for  European integration, who also gave examples of tactics used to obstruct legislative activity.

“For Moldova, the strategic priority is European integration. In this regard, the parliament has planned over 300 laws for this year. Unfortunately, the obstruction tactics used by the opposition put this process at risk. We have seen the tactic of mass amendments, with dozens of repetitive amendments submitted in order to consume the time of t the parliament’s commissions. We have seen repetitive procedural interventions and exaggerated requests for emergency hearings of ministers. All these practices are dangerous, because they will only delay the European accession process,” said a lawmaker of the Action and Solidarity Party  (PAS), Marcel Spatari.

Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu assured that the draft Code on the organization and work of the parliament would be sent for expert review to the Venice Commission, as well as to the OSCE and other relevant international institutions.

A delegation made up of the chairs of parliamentary commissions will make a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels during May 31-June 3, in order to study how European legislative sessions are organized and conducted.

“We are open to discussions. I encourage them to talk to European Parliament members and to see what the procedures are for conducting meetings in the European Parliament,” the Speaker of Parliament added.

According to the authors of the draft, the Code on the organization and work of the parliament aims to make parliamentary activity more efficient and to align the legislative process with European standards.