The April 2 sitting of Parliament, where the Government was to present the bill for which it assumed responsibility, didn’t have a quorum. The Socialist and Democratic MPs didn’t appear at the sitting, IPN reports.
After the Parliament’s Secretariat announced that only 39 MPs were present, Speaker Zinaida Grechanyi said the sitting cannot be opened because a quorum is not present. “Mister Prime Minister, we thank you. Regrettably, Parliament cannot hold a sitting,” stated the official.
The leader of the Pro Moldova parliamentary group Andrian Candu said this is a show staged by the parliamentary group and the government. “Regrettably, not even the democratic procedures are respected. As a rule, for this assumption of responsibility to be respected and the period of 72 hours to start, the Premier was to today present the bill for which the Government assumed responsibility. Surely, we are in the situation in which we can ascertain that not even the assumption of responsibility works, not mentioning the impertinence and disrespect shown by our colleagues from the parliamentary majority and the government. We are astounded by such a behavior,” he stated.
On April 1, Government assumed responsibility for the institution of measures to support the citizens and business entities during the state of emergency. The minimum monthly guaranteed income for families with low incomes was increased from 1,107 lei to 1,300 lei for the duration of the state of emergency. The minimum employment benefit was set at 2,775 lei. The VAT rate for the enterprises of the hospitality industry was cut from 20% to 15% for the duration of the state of emergency. The deadline for paying local taxes for the first quarter of this year for business entities that stopped work in accordance with the decisions taken by the Commission for Exceptional Situations was extended until July 25.
Under the Constitution, the Government can assume responsibility before Parliament for a program, a general policy declaration or a bill. If a no-confidence motion is not submitted within three days, the program, general policy declaration or bill is considered adopted.
