The Constitutional Court on October 31 pronounced on the bill to amend Article 13 of the Constitution, by which the phrase “Moldovan language” is replaced with “Romanian language” following a request made by a group of MPs. The Court approved of the bill. Now the bill to amend the Constitution can be submitted to Parliament for adoption and can be subject to parliamentary procedures without waiting for the six months stipulated in the regulations on the amendment of the Constitution. President Igor Dodon criticized the decision, saying the medieval archives indicate the Moldovan language as the historical language of the Moldovan people. “If someone, no matter where they come from, has doubts about this, we can organize a referendum,” he stated.

Half a tonne of meat transported by citizens of the Republic of Moldova by the Chisinau-Moscow train was destroyed in Russia. On its website on November 1, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia (Rosselkhoznadzor) said the Moldovan citizens didn’t have the required documents for the 515 kg of meat of an unknown origin that was transported by train. The meat, which the inspectors considered unsafe from sanitary-veterinary viewpoint, was taken out of the train and was then destroyed following lab tests.

A hotbed of African swine fever was reported in Palanca village of Stefan Voda district. The presence of the virus was confirmed in three domestic farms. On November 1, the National Food Safety Agency announced that the places were the animals were kept were disinfected and the local pigs are being supervised by veterinarians. On November 3, the Agency said the hotbeds of African swine fever in Palanca village of Stefan Voda district appeared after infected meat was brought from Ukraine. The citizens didn’t respect the restrictions imposed on the import of meat and meat products from Ukraine, where a number of hotbeds were reported. The village will be in quarantine for 60 days. There is only one point of entrance to the village and this contains a sanitary filter.

The national commission for the establishment of permanent single-member constituencies on November 2 presented the list of single-member constituencies to the Cabinet for approval. According to the final map that includes 51 constituencies, 48 constituencies will be established on Moldova’s territory, while three outside it. Eleven constituencies will be set up in Chisinau municipality. By two constituencies will be established in Balti municipality and in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. Another two constituencies of the 48 will be created in Transnistrian - one for Camenca, Rabnita, Dubasari, and Grigoriopol, and the other one for Slobozia, Tiraspol municipality and Tighina. Of the three constituencies intended for the diaspora, one constituency will be established eastwards of Moldova, another one westwards of Moldova and the third for the Unites States of America and Canada.

The member of the Party of Communists Vasile Panciuc left his seat of MP. In the November 2 sitting, Parliament took cognizance of the resignation tendered by Panciuc. Thus, a seat of MP held by the Party of Communists was declared vacant. Alla Mironic is the next substitute candidate on the party’s list. Earlier, Vasile Panciuc held the mayoralty of Balti municipality.

On October 31, the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases presented the scheme of the murder attempt on businessman German Gorbuntsov. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the murder of Gorbuntsov was ordered by the leader of “Our Party” Renato Usatyi, while the executor Vitalie Proca was to later name Vlad Plahotniuc as the one who ordered the murder, in exchange for a sum of money. In an interview for Jurnal TV given at the Jilava Penitentiary in Romania that was broadcast in the evening of November 2, Vitalie Proca said that in 2012 he shot businessman German Gorbuntsov by order of Vlad Plahotniuc, but failed to kill this. “The order was made by Plahotniuc. I don’t know how the rest of the world sees him, but I consider him a career criminal and I know what I say. He found me in a moment when I had financial difficulties. I could not repay a debt and they offered me to do this,” stated Vitalie Proca. After this interview, another person involved in the scheme to organize the murder Valeriu Halupa said Renato Usatyi is actually the one who ordered the murder. In the November 3 program Fabrika on Publika TV, Valeriu Halupa said through Skype that he was the first to go to the Prospector’s Office and to make statements about this case after he found out from TV reports in what he had been involved. Halupa said his role was to check the addresses in London where the banker stayed. “I told everything as it was. The next day, Ion Druta called me and asked me why I went to the Prosecutor’s Office. He said: I was phoned by Usatyii, the persons who ordered the murder, who are powerful and have weight. And he told me not to worry,” stated Valeriu Halupa.

Selection by Maria Procopciuc