Any party that defies the law and does it constantly should be penalized, while the law should clearly stipulate the measures that will be taken with regard to a political party or another, expert Igor Boțan stated in a public debate hosted by IPN.
The permanent expert of IPN’s project explained the context of the appearance of the bill to implement aims contained in the Constitutional Court’s judgment No.10/2023, by which the Shor Party was declared unconstitutional, and that was already given a first reading on July 14, 2023.
According to him, the sponsors noted that the bill is based on the CC’s judgment. Therefore, the procedures should be adjusted as there were no such precedents earlier. An important thing is that the CC does not punish the party and its members. The punishments imposed on this party for its activities were ordered by the Appeals Court. Candidates of this party for four times were removed from the electoral race for violating Moldova’s laws. This party and its members didn’t do anything to remedy the situation. They consider that recidivating is something normal in the Republic of Moldova,” stated Igor Boțan.
He noted the party and its members simply avoid the law as they consider the violation of the legislation is permitted in Moldova. This happens because the party is sometimes punished with the withdrawal of the candidate, while in others cases it is not punished. The CC’s decision is designed to prevent similar behaviors in the future or the state’s capacity to act against such behaviors can be endangered.
The expert said the law should clearly stipulate the reasons for the dissolution of a party. The Central Election Commission must examine parties’ financial reports, but half of the parties do not submit such reports for years. This means that these parties that do not carry out activities should be dissolved as they only burden the CEC. Or the Constitutional Court can adopt a decision to outlaw a party and this party is to be dissolved.
“Things should have been clarified here. It is one thing when the party is not active and keeps a niche, making the CEC’s work more difficult and it is another thing when this decision on unconstitutionality is taken. Parliament starts from the precondition that the Constitutional Court’s judgments must be read attentively and the legislation should be amended so that it is in line with the decision taken by the Constitutional Court.”
The public debate “Parties between rights, responsibilities and unconstitutionality” was the 286th installment of the series “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that are staged by IPN News Agency with assistance from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
