"This Is a Dangerous Precedent." PAG Criticized the Amendment to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office

The deputies of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG) opposed the exclusion of the Chief Prosecutor of Gagauzia from the Supreme Council of Prosecutors (SCP). The PAG representatives warned that the amendment could "disrupt the previously established mechanism for preventing disagreements" between the parliament and the assembly. The Gagauz MPs asked Speaker Igor Grosu and MPs to exclude this amendment. As stated in the appeal of the deputies of Gagauzia, when developing this amendment, the deputies did not consult with the authorities of Gagauzia who oppose the exclusion of the Gagauz prosecutor from the Supreme Council of Prosecutors. According to the PAG, this amendment "is at odds with the declared priority of the new parliament to reform the justice system to accomplish the rule of law." Also, the PAG members stated that this "unilateral initiative is a dangerous precedent that could disrupt the created mechanism for preventing disagreements" between the parliament and the People's Assembly of Gagauzia. “We hope that this amendment to amend the law on the Prosecutor’s Office is an unfortunate misunderstanding. In this regard, we appeal to the deputies of parliament to exclude this amendment in the final reading of the law on the Prosecutor's Office,” the statement signed by the PAG chairman Vladimir Kissa says. Recall, on August 13, in the first reading, the parliament approved the amendments to the law on the Prosecutor's Office, which provide for two mechanisms for the Prosecutor General to resign. The document also provides for the exclusion of the Chief Prosecutor of Gagauzia and the Chairman of the Union of Lawyers from the Supreme Council of Prosecutors. The initiative belongs to the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS). During the debate, Socialist Deputy Alexandr Suhodolski criticized the draft and reproached that "ATU Gagauzia is not a district". In response, the author of the draft, PAS MP Sergiu Litvinenco, said that the Chief Prosecutor of Gagauzia should be expelled on the grounds that his membership in the Supreme Council of Prosecutors "gives him an unjustifiably privileged status and creates problems of inequality and injustice compared to the other chief prosecutor of the country." It should be noted that the Chief Prosecutor of Gagauzia became a member of the Supreme Council of the Prosecutor's Office in 2016. This decision was reached by a joint working group of the parliament and the PAG.