The People’s Assembly of Gagauzia proposes introducing a clause that would envision the possibility of Gagauzia leaving Moldova in the Constitution. This would happen only if the Republic of Moldova loses its sovereignty, IPN reports, quoiting gagauzinfo.md.

The initiative was published on the website of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia for public debates. This says the People’s Assembly has the right to adopt the local legislative and normative frameworks within the limits of its powers and stipulates the procedure for adopting amendments to the legislation on the powers of Gagauzia by Parliament. This way, the law on the special legal status of Gagauzia could be amended only with 3/5 of votes of MP and only based on decisions by the Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, which would coincide. The state institutions in Gagauzia could be reorganized following the consent given by the Executive Committee of Gagauzia.

If Moldova loses its status of independent state, the people of Gagauzia should have the right to external self-determination. At the suggestion of the Gagauz side, the Constitutional Court should determine the constitutionality of the local laws and decisions made by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia and the decisions taken by the Executive Committee.

The local press reported that Gagauzia’s right to decide its foreign course if Moldova loses its independence was stated at the referendum that was held in the region on February 2, 2014.

Asked by IPN to comment, deputy chairman of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia Alexandr Tarnavskii said the bill was proposed following recommendations made by the Venice Commission in 2002. They have considered the possibility of making changes to the Constitution so as to consolidate particular powers of the region’s administration for many years. Over the last few months, they collected relevant proposals so as to reach a compromise at the local level. The bill will not be yet put to the vote in the People’s Assembly. “It is a discussion held at the local level so that the deputies of Gagauzia could prepare arguments concerning the amendments Gagauzia wants to be inserted in the Constitution, if this thing is ever examined,” stated Alexandr Tarnavskii.