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Briefness first and foremost – April 16, 2019 IPN digest


https://www.ipn.md/en/briefness-first-and-foremost-april-16-2019-ipn-digest-7978_1048259.html

The political bloc ACUM is proposing a joint working group with Parliament Socialists to discuss, until April 25, legislative measures for “de-oligarchization of the state and for improving people lives”, before eventually calling snap elections. This was stated by ACUM co-president Andrei Năstase after a convention of the bloc.

Maia Sandu, the bloc’s other co-president, stressed that the proposal to have a joint group shouldn’t be taken to mean a coalition with the Socialists. It’s only “to understand if the PSRM is willing to participate in the de-oligarchization process by endorsing (ACUM’s) package of laws”.

The Party of Socialists’ jurist Fadei Nagacevski said that to overcome the problems related to mutual distrust invoked by the PSRM and the Bloc ACUM, the sides should sign a cooperation contract. According to him, this contract should describe all the actions that the sides need to take. The issue was developed in the program “Emphasis on today” on TVR Moldova channel.

In a posting on Facebook, Socialist secretary Vlad Batrîncea says his party sees no point in continuing “sterile discussions” with ACUM as long as the political bloc inflexibly refuses to accept the notion of a coalition with the Socialists.

The Socialist Party’s parliamentary group led by the party’s president Zinaida Greceanîi traveled to Moscow for a one-day visit on the invitation of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.  The party said in a press statement that the Moldovan lawmakers will have bilateral meetings with the Duma leadership and with representatives of the Duma’s largest parties.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák, referring to the Transnistrian subject, said that “thanks to their commitment, leadership and political will, both Sides last year have implemented five agreements bringing concrete benefits for the people such as neutral license plates or Latin script schools. This gave new impetus to the Transnistrian settlement process. To keep this momentum, Chisinau and Tiraspol have now to intensify their dialogue, work towards the finalization of the “Berlin-plus package” and identify new areas of joint work”.

In an article for IPN, Veaceslav Craciun from Comrat speaks about a study entitled “Central Election Commission of Gagauzia in the legal space of the Republic of Moldova” by the director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) Igor Boțan. The author noted the participants in the event unanimously agreed that the creation of the CEC of Gagauzia was a necessary and well-founded decision. However, unlike the expert approach, the practical solutions follow a different logic that is based on political will and interests. Not at all accidentally, the Commission became a rare, but not single proof since 1994 of the constitution of an official body that would develop and put into practice the powers of Gagauzia after this was given the status of autonomous region in 1994.

The administration of the Republic of Moldova expressed its regret at the violent fire that gutted Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. “I transmit our compassion and words of encouragement to President Emmauel Macron and the whole people of France and voice hope that the specialists will manage to restore this masterpiece of the French culture and world cultural heritage,” President Igor Dodon wrote on his Facebook page. Prime Minister Pavel Filip wrote on Twitter that the Republic of Moldova is solidary with the people of France.

The number of deviations from the Journalist’s Deontological Code has increased. In a news conference at IPN, director of the Independent Journalism Center Nadine Gogu said the mingling of facts and opinions was the most often violation committed by all the 12 monitored media outlets. The second most frequent violation was the non-provision of the right to reply to those featured or accused in news articles. There were also used manipulation techniques such as the omission and selective presentation of facts, transfer of negative image, manipulation of the sound and images and the technique “domestic enemy versus national savior”.

The Buiucani District Court today rejected a request submitted by ex-premier Vlad Filat’s lawyers challenging the constitutionality of some criminal procedure provisions. Lawyer Victor Munteanu told reporters the court’s arguments will be carefully examined before being appealed, as the defense further believes that the challenged provisions need to be brought before the Constitutional Court for interpretation.

The National Social Insurance Company (CNAS) provided details about which groups of beneficiaries are entitled to the 600 lei payout offered for Easter, following numerous requests for such clarifications. CNAS said in a statement the beneficiaries include all recipients of disability benefits, including child disability benefits, non-contributory old-age pensions, and survivors’ pensions. 

Beneficiaries of 600 lei payouts also include any recipient of a pension no bigger than 2,000 lei.

Details on IPN!