The value added tax (VAT) annually leaves the family budget without 20,000 lei. The expert in economic policies of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Veaceslav Ioniță said the people pay VAT every time they buy a product or pay for a service, this tax being included in the final price. Annually, each family pays about 20,000 lei VAT on average. The state does not have a mechanism for refunding the VAT when a product sold for several times is overtaxed. Currently, the companies overpaid hundreds of millions of lei VAT and cannot get back this money.
All the types of Moldovan goods can be exported to the Russian market by transiting Ukraine as of January 30 this year, President Igor Dodon announced after a meeting with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Moscow. As to the parliamentary elections, President Vladimir Putin said the Russians are not indifferent to the way in which the future Parliament of Moldova is formed given that the legislative body forms the Government and depends on it. The Moldova-Russian relations will also depend on this.
Fiodor Ghelici, ex-president of the commission for public control under the President of the Republic of Moldova, said that even if Igor Dodon promised he will investigate the banking fraud, he hasn’t done this yet. “Igor Nicolaevici, you are an accomplice to everything. The first and most important argument is that you banned the commission for public control under the President from investigating these terrible facts. The second argument is that the President hasn’t yet delivered one of his main promises. Where is the commission that was to investigate the theft of these billions?” asked Fiodor Ghelici.
Representatives of the Party of Socialists consider Moldova’s partnership with NATO generates evident dangers to national security. As an electoral commitment, the Socialists pledge to strengthen the country’s neutrality status if they enter the next Parliament. According to the party’s executive secretary Vlad Batrîncea, this can cause particular problems to the Republic of Moldova in relation to a number of partners from outside the country.
The Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc hid the largest part of his property, registering it in the name of a citizen from Cyprus, said the president of the Liberal Party Dorin Chirtoacă. He asserted that Vlad Plahotniuc hid assess to the value of about €200 million. The politician noted the Liberal Party will campaign in accordance with the Election Code and will make a number of revelations. The party’s campaign will center on the fight against duplicity and oligarchic groups and on the promotion of Moldova’s union with Romania.
Seven Moldovans were arrested on Moldova’s territory following the identification of a group of persons suspected of trafficking in hashish from Spain to Russia. A part of the members of the group are former and current employees of Moldovan law enforcement agencies. The arrested persons face seven to 15 years in jail.
A consumer dissatisfied with the services provided by a developer managed to get back €23,000 that he paid for an apartment. It happened after the person who signed an investment contract with a realty company complained to the Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance about the delay in finishing the construction works.
The election campaign in single-member constituencies is dirty as the parties resort to different cunning stratagems in order to attract the people on their side. The PDM, PSRM and the Shor Party use such tricks most often. The parties also conduct denigrating campaigns against each other. The opinions were stated by representatives of the electoral bloc ACUM, the Party of Communists and the Party of Socialists in the public debate “Elections 2019: Please elect me MP because...”, which was the 101th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates” and was staged by IPN News Agency.
In the same debate, the representatives of the PCRM, PSRM and the electoral bloc ACUM said in the future Parliament they will focus on the fight against corruption and the reformation of the justice sector. The anti-popular laws and acts adopted during the last ten years, such as the capital amnesty law, the law on the introduction of the mixed electoral system and the law that makes the people repay the stolen banking funds, will be repealed.
Other participants in the debate see Moldova’s future alongside Romania, through the union of the two states. At the same time, in the current election campaign some of the parties are disadvantaged, in terms of media coverage, compared with the ruling party that places obstacles to electoral contenders. Such statements were made by representatives of the Shor Party, the People’s Movement Antimafie, the Our Party and the National Liberal Party.
A pre-electoral delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that visited Chisinau to assess the election campaign and the preparations for the Parliamentary elections to be held on 24 February 2019 said the election campaign just started and political parties and candidates are in general able to campaign freely. Nevertheless, the delegation was informed by different interlocutors about a number of long-standing concerns which still remain unaddressed.
In particular, cases of intimidation and violence against candidates; cases of hate speech, including against women candidates; cases of misuse of administrative resources; allegations of vote buying; cases of involvement of public employees in the signature collection procedure; cases of distribution of electoral gifts during election campaign events involving charitable foundations associated with certain political parties.
The PACE pre-electoral delegation shares the Venice Commission’s concern stated in March 2018, when it was pointed out that the new mixed electoral system is contrary to prior recommendations. The Parliamentary Assembly expressed concern at the lack of transparency of the criteria to determine the number of polling stations abroad. For many stakeholders these criteria should ensure the voter’s right to participate effectively in the elections. The delegation believes that the increase in the number of ballot papers assigned to each polling station may not solve the problem, if the number and the location of polling stations is not in proportion to the voters living in different countries. Etc., etc., etc.
“Elections in plain words” from IPN: the challenges concerning the organization and conduct of elections are applications to annul or review an act, a decision or actions. These can be submitted by voters and electoral competitors that challenge the actions and decisions of electoral offices and councils in the superior electoral bodies and in courts of law.
The challenge will contain the description of the facts invoked as alleged violations, proofs, the legal reason, the demands, signature and identification data of the person who submits it.
The spring session of Parliament opens on February 4. The mandate of the current legislature expired on November 30, 2018. Under the Constitution, the Parliament’s mandate is extended until the new composition is formed legally. In the period, the legislative body can adopt only ordinary laws and decisions, can stage hearings, consultations and can perform parliamentary control.
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