MP Olesea Stamate withdraws from PAS parliamentary faction

MP Olesea Stamate is withdrawing from the parliamentary faction of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS). She announced today that she will continue her work as an unaffiliated MP. The decision was taken as PAS expelled Olesea Stamate from the party and asked her to resign as MP, after she introduced three amendments to the Amnesty Law, which allowed the release from prison of extremely dangerous prisoners.

In a social media post, Stamate emphasized that she recently analyzed the actions related to the amnesty bill, including the amendments which were part of a separate legislative process, coordinated in detail with the Ministry of Justice.


"As I stated before, I believe all my actions were in compliance with the law and done transparently. I have peace of mind with respect to myself, the law and the values I believe in. I remain open to providing explanations, documents and relevant information regarding my activity – all in the spirit of transparency and public responsibility. Given the PAS leadership's decision to exclude me from the party and the way institutional relations have evolved in recent days, I announce my withdrawal from the PAS parliamentary faction. I will continue my activity as an unaffiliated deputy, respecting the mandate entrusted to me by citizens and in full compliance with the principles of the rule of law," wrote Olesea Stamate.


According to PAS, Stamate allegedly introduced three amendments to the 2021 Amnesty Law, which allowed for the release of dangerous inmates. Thus, the Amnesty Law introduced the possibility of commuting life sentences to 30 years of imprisonment.

The amendment made it possible to apply the provisions of Article 91 (4) b), which allows conditional release for those who have served ⅔ of their term. Also, the condition of demonstrating the absence of recidivism risk for applying amnesty to life-sentenced inmates was removed, and through the November 2022 amendment, the possibility of commuting life sentences to 30 years of imprisonment was introduced.

Stamate was the head of the legal committee on rules and immunities in 2021 - 2024. On 19 January 2024, Stamate said she was stepping down.