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Briefness first and foremost – November 6, 2018 IPN digest


https://www.ipn.md/en/briefness-first-and-foremost-november-6-2018-ipn-digest-7978_1045157.html

The president of the National Liberal Party Vitalia Pavlichenko said the party she heads is close to making announcements concerning the party’s participation in the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019. The politician noted the party is having discussions with a number of parties on the formation of a common platform for running in the upcoming elections.

In this connection, political analyst Ion Tăbârţă said we are witnessing a process of unification of the political right in Moldova.

According to him, the meeting held by the so-called “anti-oligarchic” PL, PLDM, PAS and PPPDA on November 5 was a kind of transmission of the torch from what the political right was before 2016 to what it is now. The cooperation between these parties that refers for now only to single-member constituencies is rather good because the current mixed electoral system with one round of voting obliges the right to enter the elections with one candidate.

At the same time, the members of the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group suggest re-including in the Election Code the provision that institutes a minimum voter turnout of 1/3 in constituencies in parliamentary elections. They argue the principle of majority in the created situation will lead to absurd absenteeism. “We can witness nonsense when a candidate becomes an MP being elected possibly by only one vote,” stated the Lib-Dems. “When a minimum voter turnout of 1/3 is set for the presidential elections in Moldova and there are no similar provisions for the supreme legislative body, the problem of redefining the form of government in the Republic of Moldova in terms of representation becomes conspicuous.”

The “Big Brother” keeps an eye on the Moldovans’ fuss: the presence of the Russian troops on Moldova’s territory is the biggest danger to national security, chairman of the Parliament’s commission on national security, defense and public order Eugen Carpov stated in the talk show “Emphasis on today” on TVR Moldova channel, noting this presence remains an instrument for maintaining the separatist regime in the Transnistrian region. “If the Russian troops hadn’t stayed there on a permanent basis throughout this period, I’m convinced that a solution to the Transnistrian conflict would have been found earlier,” he stated.

A number of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice submitted their resignations to the Superior Council of Magistracy. The Council’s president Victor Micu said it is regrettable that judges with a rich experience who contributed to strengthening the independence of the judiciary leave… And in whose care do they leave this so independent system?

Concerned, the Superior Council of Magistracy disapproved of the draft law on the unitary salary system in the budgetary sector. A negative review was adopted by the votes of 11 members of the Council. Council member Nina Cernat noted that initially they said this draft law will refer only to public functionaries, not yet to judges or prosecutors, but the bill covers the last two categories as well. They reached the conclusion that the special law on the pay grades for judges and prosecutors should be kept... “No” to the unitary salary system! On barricades comrade judges and prosecutors!

A new ‘difficult’ choice for President Igor Dodon, who sent back the Code of Audiovisual Media Services adopted on October 18 this year to Parliament for reexamination. He does not want only information, feature, military and political television and radio programs produced in the EU member states, the U.S., Canada and the states that ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television to have access to the Moldovan media market. “Only an insignificant percentage of media products produced in the over 190 states of the world is covered this way and the national consumers’ access to media products of another origin is thus limited,” he explained. He actually didn’t mean 190 states, but only one. Guess which one!

By the way, when we want to make a distinction between real news and fake news, we must know that fake news is designed to arouse emotions, while real news comes to inform. The person should be attentive to the source of information. If it is a portal, this should be updated and the authors of the news articles should be real people, programs coordinator of the Independent Journalism Center Cristina Zavatin recommended in a public conference centering on fake news in the digital epoch that was held at the National Library.

Traps everywhere. But the PAS leader Maia Sandu refused to make statements in the hearings staged behind closed doors by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the circumstances of the presupposed interference by the Foundation “Otwarty Dialog” and its founder Ludmila Kozlowska.

Maia Sandu said the intentionally disseminated lies, including by MPs, about the financing of the PAS should be revealed also in Parliament and also publicly. “I demand to be called to a public meeting so that I could address all the citizens, not to a meeting held behind closed doors by a commission that consists of loyal representatives of the Plahotniuc-Dodon regime,” the politician wrote in the social media.

After Japanese films were shown in Moldova, the Polish Film Festival CinePOLSKA comes to Chisinau with six new films that were awarded at important international festivals. The films will be shown at the Odeon Cinema during November 8-13 with Romanian subtitles. Entrance is free of charge.

Details on IPN!