The Liberal-Democrats’ initiative to change the name of the official language in the Constitution from “Moldovan” into “Romanian” is a political maneuver, said invitees of the talk show “Key issue” produced by NTV Moldova channel, IPN reports.

Jurist Sergei Mishin said the Liberal Democratic Party understands that it will not enter the future Parliament and took a populist step by attracting the unionist voters. “We are in the Republic of Moldova and our language is “Moldovan” for the simple reason that the “Romanian language” became known when the Constitution of Romania was designed, in 1866”, he stated.

Journalist Alexandru Stahurskii said the discussions on the theme of the language were initiated in a move to distract attention from other problems that were discussed in society. Built this theme is not as important as the living standards or the state of the economy. “This is a new political move. This problem will have to be ultimately solved, but I don’t know how,” he noted.

Sergiu Ostaf, director of the Legal Resources Center of Moldova, stated that the Lib-Dems’ initiative is a political step that could generate a positive perception in a part of the people who consider that the speak Romanian. “I think this is their right,” he said.

On October 12, the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group announced that it secured the support of MPs needed for examining the bill to amend article 13 of the Constitution. Before presenting it officially, the Lib-Dems will submit the bill to the Constitutional Court for appraisal. The bill allows for the substitution of the phrase “Moldovan language” with “Romanian language”. The bill was signed by the Liberal-Democratic and Liberal MPs, the members of the European People’s Party group and the unaffiliated MPs.