A number of civil society organizations call upon the development partners to temporarily stop the financing of reforms, which produce no visible and sustainable results, until commitment to reform is visible, and support those areas where such commitment exists, IPN reports.
In a call, seven signatory organizations urge to maintain the condemnation of the decision to change the electoral system as deeply antidemocratic and damaging to pluralism of opinion and of parties and to call upon the present authorities to put Moldova back on its democratic path, and hold the present authorities accountable for their previous commitments
“Three years ago, Moldova was ravaged by money laundering and banking frauds. The authorities have not yet produced a credible investigation. Nor have they duly informed the public about the efforts made, and there is no public oversight of the way Moldova responded to this crisis.
After failed attempts to legalize proceeds from these crimes with the so-called fiscal amnesty, the present authorities have changed the electoral system to their own benefit and against the common good.
In defying the peaceful protests that erupted in 2017, the Moldovan authorities retorted to persecution, intimidation and outright lies – by providing “official”, yet false information - and violated the basic human rights of peaceful citizens, such as the freedom to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
The arrest of Alexei Alexeev is the most recent in this worrying string of events. We saw Police forces, pro-government politicians, and their politically affiliated media engaged in an open campaign to misinform the population about the protests, and denigrate an innocent person.
We witness a roll-back of the Justice sector reform. After having consumed substantial funds, the Government is cutting back on transparency and access to information,” says the call.
The document is addressed to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council; Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission; Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament; Pedro Agramunt, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe; Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission; Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations; Sven Mikser, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Presidency of the Council of the European Union; Peter Michalko, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova; Eva Gutjahr, Council of Europe Office in Moldova, Deputy Head of Office; Michael Scanlan, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Anna Akhalkatsi, World Bank Country Manager for Moldova; Armine Khachatryan, Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund in Moldova; Dimitri Gvindadze, Head of the EBRD Office in Chisinau; Karen Hillard, Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative; James Pettit, Ambassador of the United States of America in Moldova; Julia Monar, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Moldova; Lucy Joyce Obe, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Moldova; Signe Burgstaller, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden in Moldova.
The signatory organizations are: Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT); Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER); Center for Policies and Reforms (CPR Moldova), Institute for Public Policies (IPP); Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (CRJM); Transparency International Moldova, and WatchDog.MD Community.
