Chairman of PACE discusses with opposition leaders about the situation in Moldova

Issues regarding the collaboration in the Parliament, the way the laws are promoted and adopted, their implementation, situation of opposition were some of the themes tackled by the Chairman of PACE, Rene van der Linden while discussing with the leaders of the parliamentary opposition factions. The Chairman of the Democrat Party faction, Dumitru Diacov, declared that he discussed with the European official about Moldova’s engagements in front of CoE. According to him, implementing the plan on adjusting the legislation depends on the government but also on the opposition. Diacov declared that after the last discussion from Strasbourg, he informed the leadership of the Parliament about the existence of some serious pretensions to the implementation of the plan, afterwards many laws have been approved during several weeks. He mentioned that the main result of PACE Chairman’s visit is strengthening the relationships between Moldova and CoE, stimulating the leadership of Moldova to bring to life all the engagements taken in front of CoE. Serafim Urechaenu, the leader of Moldova Noastra Alliance (MNA), tackled at the meeting the real situation in the Parliament, collaboration between the parliamentary factions and especially between the opposition ones. According to him, the PACE official asked if MNA participated at the elaboration of the approved laws and found out that only the MPs who voted for Vladimir Voronin as head of state participated , the rest being ignored. As well, according to him, they discusses about the draft Audiovisual Code and about the fact that at the elaboration of the document the civil society was ignored. Urecheanu informed the official about the pressures put upon opposition by the leadership of Moldova, mentioning that Rene van der Linden wanted to find out details. The leader of the Christian-democrat parliamentary faction, Vlad Cubreacov told that he discussed about the political situation in 2002 and 2006, about the role and the rights of the opposition, especially in the Parliament, and about the fact if NGOs can participate in the process of parliamentary debates. As well, according to him, they discussed about the transparency level of the Parliament and Government, about the way of organizing discussions regarding the draft laws, about the sincerity of the European orientation of the political elite of Moldova. Implementation of laws, the way they are brought to life by the government and society was another issue of the meeting. The meeting with the leader of the communist faction was postponed. The reason was not announced. On Wednesday, the European official also met with the ambassadors of the CoE member states, with the speaker of the Parliament, Marian Lupu and on Thursday will meet with the minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Andrei Stratan, the prime-minister Vasile Tarlev and the president Vladimir Voronin. Rene van der Linden will stay in Moldova until July 28.