The Pro-European Coalition registered in Parliament a bill to amend the Constitution and abolish the absolute immunity of lawmakers. In a briefing held before the November 1 sitting of Parliament, representatives of the coalition called on the other MPs to endorse this bill, IPN reports.
The leader of the Liberal-Democratic faction Valeriu Strelet said the bill contains amendments to Article 70 – Incompatibilities and immunities. The word ‘immunities’ will be excluded from the title. Paragraph 3, which says that the MP cannot be detained, arrested, searched, except for flagrant offenses, or sued without the Parliament’s consent, after questioning him/her, will also be excluded.
The MPs propose that the word ‘public’ should be added to Article 71 of the Constitution – Independence of opinions – in the sentence “The MP cannot be persecuted or held accountable for his/her votes or opinions stated (publicly) while holding the seat of MP”. According to Valeriu Strelet, the bill is supported by 50 lawmakers.
Deputy Speaker Andrian Candu, of the Democratic Party, said that nobody should be above the law. “We were elected to work. We do not have special privileges or immunities,” said the MP. According to him, the bill must pass through all the legal procedures over the next six months so that it can be adopted in May.
The leader of the group of Liberal reformers Ion Hadarca said the immunity must not obstruct the main functions and duties of justice and intentionally hamper the functioning of the democratic principles in a state with the rule of law.
