Moldovan Parliament Cut President’s Powers and Raised the Status of the Russian Language

The fact that deputies approved the relevant bills provoked a sharp reaction from President-elect, Maia Sandu’s supporters The Parliament of Moldova approved in the first reading draft laws on such resonant issues as raising the status of the Russian language in the republic, canceling the ban on broadcasting Russian TV channels, strengthening the status of the Gagauz autonomy and others. This caused a sharp reaction within the camp of President-elect, Maia Sandu’s supporters. The package of laws was approved at a plenary session on Thursday thanks to the votes of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) that supports the incumbent president, Igor Dodon, and thanks to For Moldova group, that mainly consists of Shor party representatives. Deputies from the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party led by Sandu, as well as the Dignity and Truth Platforms who blocked the parliamentary rostrum, tried to disrupt the vote. The Russian language In 2018, the Constitutional Court of Moldova declared outdated the law "On the Functioning of Languages on the Territory of the Moldavian SSR", a law that secured the special status for the Russian language in the country where more than a third of the population was using it. As the PSRM deputy Bogdan Tsirdea commented to TASS: thus, in a "filigree" way, the Constitutional Court annulled this law and the status of Russian as a language of interethnic communication. In his opinion, this decision was lobbied by politicians who advocate Moldova's joining Romania. The bill, approved on Thursday in the first reading, returns to Russian the status of an interethnic communication language. In addition, at citizens’ request, government officials were obliged to respond in Russian, including in documents. This is especially applicable in the courts, when the Russian-speaking residents of the country were forced to hire translators at their own expense. At yesterday's meeting, deputies approved as well in the first reading a decision that obliges drug manufacturers to print drug instructions in the state and Russian languages. Another important decision was cancelling in the first reading the ban on Russian TV channels. At the end of 2017, the Moldovan parliament adopted the so-called law on combating foreign propaganda. The ban included news and analytical programs with military and political content, which were produced in countries that have not ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, including Russia. Observers drew attention to the fact that the decision deliberately hit the Russian TV channels popular in Moldova. The initiative of the pro-European Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), which controled the legislature and the government, was then criticized not only by President Dodon, but even by representatives of the EU and the United States, who called it excessively tough. Gagauz autonomy In the first reading, were also approved a number of decisions designed to resolve the Gagauz autonomy conflict. The regional authorities demand from Chisinau to bring Moldovan laws and regulations in line with the 1994 law on the status of Gagauzia. This document enshrines the agreements which the Gagauzians agreed to and refused building instead an independent state in the early 1990s. Earlier, Irina Vlah, the head of the autonomy accused the pro-European parties in the Moldovan parliament of unwillingness to observe the rights of the Gagauz people. She indicated that the autonomy will continue to draw the attention of the international community to the "systematic violation of the special legal status of Gagauzia". Chisinau recognizes the problem and states that this experience could be applied to the settlement of relations with the unrecognized Transdniestria. Limiting president’s powers At a meeting on Thursday, the deputies at once in two readings approved the Information and Security Service withdrawing out of President’s subordination. This decision drew criticism from President-elect Maia Sandu. On Thursday, her supporters organized a picket in front of the parliament, which was joined by the "Platform" Dignity and Truth "led by Andrei Nastase," Our Party "led by the mayor of Balti Renato Usatii, as well as participants in the Transdniestrian conflict, in total there were about a thousand people who blocked the main avenue of Chisinau for several hours. The next opposition protest is announced for December 6. Sandu will demand the dissolution of parliament, she is also going to challenge the decision on the ISS to the Constitutional Court. Embassy of the USA The land for a new mission construction was actually taken away from the US embassy. The fact is that American diplomats have looked after the territory of the former Republican stadium in the center of Chisinau for these purposes. However, these plans caused public outrage in 2018. Then the President of the country Igor Dodon suggested that American diplomats look for another place. The president's position was supported by residents of Chisinau, petitions criticizing the decision of the American authorities appeared on the Internet, which collected tens of thousands of signatures. However, this conflict did not affect the position of the US Embassy which continued to insist on the transfer of this piece of land. The situation was aggravated when the resigning government of the pro-European Democratic Party of Moldova at the last meeting tried to certify all the documents, but under public pressure this decision was blocked by Dodon. Yesterday, the deputies legally banned the sale of this land plot.