Constitutional Court Decisions: One MP’s Mandate Confirmed, Another Rejected

On Tuesday, 16 January, the Moldovan Constitutional Court (CC) approved the MP mandate of Ion Poia, an alternative candidate from the Action and Solidarity Party list. At the same time, the judges rejected to recognize the parliamentary mandate of Svetlana Popa from the Communist and Socialist Bloc lists. The decision is final, not subject to appeal and comes into force from the day of its adoption. CC chairperson Domnica Manole said that Judge Vladimir Ţurcan had expressed a dissenting opinion. “(...) Taking into account the documents and materials of the case, the notification of the Central Election Commission to approve two MP mandates is recognized partially. Mr Ion Poia, included in the list of the Action and Solidarity Party, is declared elected as a Moldovan MP with the mandate confirmation.” The proposal of the Central Electoral Commission to recognize as valid the mandate of Moldovan MP Svetlana Popa, an alternative candidate on the list of the Communist and Socialist Bloc, was rejected,” CC chairperson Domnica Manole said. Ion Poia is a businessman and PAS councilor from Ungheni District Council, while Svetlana Popa is the former vice-chair of the Socialist faction in the Chisinau Municipal Council and was found guilty of power abuse in the case of zonal city plans. “(...) I would like to inform you that my vote was collegial. 33 councilors, starting with the executor, the general mayor and the council secretary, voted for the decision prepared by the local public administration and signed. They filed the cases against 33 councilors separately, although we have a collegial vote. Fortunately, 32 councilors won the case, only I am penalized (...),” Svetlana Popa said at the Constitutional Court session. In July 2023, Svetlana Popa was found guilty of committing an offence under Article 313 of the Criminal Code – abuse of power or exceeding official duties, punishable by a fine of 3,000 lei. At the same time, she was suspended from the position of municipal councilor for eight months.