Civil society urges AEI not to hurry up with referendum

The leaders of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) said they will soon provide a final answer as regards the constitutional reform, which will be in the society’s favor. They made related statements on Friday evening, after they had a meeting with representatives of the civil society and another one with the U.S and European ambassadors working in Chisinau. Leaders of the civil society urged the Alliance not to hurry up with the referendum and to solve the constitutional crises in Parliament, Info-Prim Neo reports. The meetings with the civil society leaders and the ambassadors were consultative in character. The consultations will go on the next week, when the new President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will come to Chisinau. Head of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu said he had a phone conversation with the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, whom he informed about the existent problems. It will become known soon if Jerzy Buzek will pay a visit to Chisinau or Mihai Ghimpu will go to Brussels. “We do not want to confront the Venice Commission. This is clear. We consider the crisis should be overcome by legal and democratic ways,” Mihai Ghimpu said after the meeting with the ambassadors. Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the president of the PLDM, said the consultations will continue until time permits, but the final decision of the AEI will be EU-compliant. Serafim Urecheanu, the leader of the AMN, said it is too early to make public a final decision as it must ensure stability in the country and in Moldova’s relations with the European institutions. Asked what the AEI leaders discussed with the representatives of the civil society, Igor Munteanu, the head of the Institute for Development and Social Imitative “Viitorul”, said they were familiarized with several theses from the new draft Constitution. “The date of a referendum can be announced only when the necessary preparations have been made. The National Participation Council (created under the Government – e.n.) proposed adopting amendments to article 78 from the Constitution in Parliament,” Igor Munteanu said, stressing that the constitutional reform is not an ambition, but a necessity for Moldova. The ambassadors did not make statements for the press after the meeting with the leaders of the AEI.