The electoral bloc NOW said it has been unable to formally register a package of legislative proposals with Parliament’s Secretary today despite it being endorsed by all of the bloc’s 26 MPs.

 

“Can you believe the nerve of these people? The head of the records directorate, Evelina Bubuioc, refused to register the package as legislative proposals. The provisions of the Constitution’s Art.73, which state that MPs have the the prerogative of legislative initiative, do not matter to them, nor do the provisions of Parliament Regulations’ Art.48(2), which state that legislative proposals are registered with Parliament Secretariat’s records directorate. They just refused”, fumed NOW MP Sergiu Litvinenco.

 

Litvinenco posted on Facebook that the “stupefying excuse” brought forth by the Secretariat is that there is no one to stamp the proposals as long as Parliament’s leadership is not elected. “As if there weren’t provisions to regulate the registration of legislative proposals on the election or failure to elect the Speaker”. 

 

“But to understand the extent of hypocrisy showed by those in Parliament’s Secretariat, let me give you two examples. After the 30 November 2014 elections, the Speaker was elected on 23 January 2015. In the period between these two dates, the same records directorate registered 18 legislative proposals. The same happened in 2010, too: the Speaker was elected on 30 December 2010, but the records directorate had already registered a number of proposals, including on 28 December 2010. This information is available on Parliament’s website”, says Sergiu Litvinenco.

 

Litvinenco goes on to ask rhetorically whether the refusal doesn’t amount to criminally punishable abuse of office.