Alliance considering constitutional amendments

The Alliance for European Integration (AIE) is preparing amendments to the Constitution and doesn’t rule out the possibility that a new version of the supreme law would be adopted. At the same time, the Communist Party says that there are bigger problems in the country and that the government is only trying to distract people’s attention from these problems. [Liberal-Democract parliamentary group leader] Valeriu Strelet told Info-Prim that this was a complex process which concerned not only amendments, but a whole new version of the Constitution. “Until adopting the new Constitution, we’ll propose the amendment regarding the MP’s immunity (articles 71 and 72), which will limit the parliamentarians’ immunity only to the opinions voiced during the exercise of their mandate”, said Valeriu Strelet. The procedure for adopting the new Constitution will be established through an organic law. The basis for debates will be the draft finalized in March 2010 by a group of constitutional experts. “In the first stage, AIE members will find a consensus regarding the conception and the text of the new Constitution. Afterwards, other relevant social actors will be involved in debates as well”, communicated Valeriu Strelet. [Igor Corman, deputy head of the Democrat parliamentary group] said that AIE created a work group and the Democrats had three members in it. “The group planned to meet before the summer holidays, but didn’t manage. It will meet now, in fall. Our position was stated previously and it concerns especially the election of the President, so as to avoid future jams”, said Igor Corman. According to the parliamentarian, PDM is open to discuss other constitutional aspects regarding the democratization of society and parliamentary activity. Igor Corman added discussions with foreign experts proved that Moldova’s supreme law wasn’t bad, especially as regards the balance of powers in the state. The Liberal Party, which was the first to come up with the idea of a new Constitution, proposes the inclusion of new articles, which would stipulate directly Moldova’s European prospect. The PL draft maintains the country’s neutral status and stipulates that the official language is Romanian. [Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu] said that if the article on the official language won’t say it is “Romanian”, it will be removed altogether from the Constitution. According to the PL draft, Moldova will be a semi-presidential republic. One of the new functions of the head of the state will be attending the Government meetings. The Communists’ Party considers that Moldova’s supreme law is good enough. Even if it needs some changes, these are not urgent enough to make them as soon as possible. “All the state institution work well. Those in power propose the amendment of the Constitution to distract public attention from the real problems of the country. We don’t need another Constitution, we need another government”, said [Communist MP Sergiu Sarbu]. The Moldovan Constitution was adopted on 29 July 1994. On the Constitution Day, [Constitutional Court president Alexandru Tanase] told Info-Prim Neo that the issue of amendments wasn’t related to the jurists’ incapacity to develop constitutional draft laws, but to the politicians inability to reach a consensus on fundamental problems in the Constitution. When political compromise is found, says Alexandru Tanase, the text of the law will be only a technical matter.