Civil society puts up solutions to overcome political and economic crises in Moldova

20 known representatives of the civil society launched “A roadmap for national reconciliation and European integration of Moldova” on Monday, which puts up solutions to overcome the political and the economic crises in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. The experts consider Moldova is facing a sharp political crisis and risks to switch to a more obvious authoritarian regime. In their opinion, only the EU's more convincing and firmer involvement can return the country back to normal democratic government. “The EU's intervention was central. The EU is a strong actor, capable to come to Moldova and change the things for better,” said political analyst Vlad Lupan. Experts share the idea that the EU should condition the future accord between the EU and Moldova with the success of settling the political crisis in Moldova, with reinstating the state of law and the fundamental liberties. “Moldova, jointly with all the interested and responsible actors, must make a series of institutional steps to reboot the democratic institutions. It's not just about bringing the ruling party and the opposition to a single table. It's necessary to install institutions to strengthen the functioning of the state of law, the constitutional frame and the fundamental human rights in Moldova,” said Igor Munteanu, the executive manager of the IDIS Viitorul think tank. The representatives of the Civil Society think the Government should halt its repressing actions and insure the due observance of the civil and political freedoms. At the same time, in their opinion, the EU should authorize a special probing mission, which should attend the sittings of the state commission investigating the committed abuses, and to install missions to strengthen the law and internal security institutions for: the judiciary, the prosecution, the police, the secret services and other power structures. The public actors, the civil society and the political parties should have free access to the public media, and the OSCE should send a special envoy for Moldova to represent the high representative of the OSCE for the freedom of the media, in order to insure the independence of the public media. In order to ensure the political dialogue, the experts think it necessary that the EU should set up a Permanent Political Conference in Moldova, led by a high-rank EU official, assisted by working groups, which would ease the political dialogue between the opposition and the authorities. The political crisis could worsen Moldova's economic situation, think leaders of the civil society. Economist Veaceslav Ionita predicts a harsher crisis than the one from 1998. According to him, from June-July 2009, the Government will not be able to pay the pensions and salaries. He sees overcoming the crisis by capital injections into the public sector, possible only if the country creates a trustworthy image. The experts propose to set up a conference of the partners for Moldova's development, which will assist in coordinating the priorities in granting financial aide, and a national anti-crisis council, joining representatives of the business, civil society and political communities. At the same time, the EU should set up a national development fund, separated from the state budget, in order to guarantee the efficient administration of the financial assistance in time of crisis. The authors of the roadmap say they will tender the document to the Moldovan authorities, European institutions and political parties. They will present their proposals in Prague on May 7, before the launch of the Eastern Partnership, and will do so in Brussels next week.