Depoliticizing presidential function would contribute to prevent and fight corruption: Anti-Corruption watchdog

The Corruption Analysis and Prevention Center (CAPC) has examined the draft for modifying the Moldovan Constitution (art.81), on suspending the party membership of the Moldovan president, and established that the adoption of it would ensure depoliticizing the top state function and would contribute to prevent and fight corruption, Info-Prim Neo reports. The authors of the legislative initiative are opposition deputies. The purpose of these changes is to insure the president of the country does not rule and is not member of any political party. “The draft is welcome, and its adoption would ensure conditions for depoliticizing the supreme state functions and in this way it would contribute to prevent and fight corruption, that is more evident and cannot be considerably reduced in the conditions of major political-administrative domination,” CAPC experts ascertain. However, according to experts, sanctions for breaking such norms are not determined, and this will considerably reduce the effect of the modifications, reducing them to simple declarative norms. “We suppose that, if the constitutional stipulations regarding the suspension from the political functions are not executed, the Moldovan President could be submitted to the dismissal procedure, under art. 89 of the Constitution, but these norms could be applied today as well (for example, invoking the same excessive politicization of the function of the state’s head). Thus, if this draft is adopted, the single applicable sanction for breaking the constitutional norm would be the dismissal, that can be made only with the votes of 2/3 of the elected deputies and this is very difficult to accomplish.” The draft law for modifying the Moldovan Constitution (registered in the Parliament by number 2971 on 17.10.2008) is to be examined by the Parliament. Previously, The Constitutional Court did not approve the initiative to revise art.81 paragraph (1) of the Constitution, signed by 36 deputies. The Court decided that the initiative on suspending the Moldovan president from the work in the political parties and organizations runs counter to paragraph (2) of art. 142 of the Moldovan Constitution, which stipulates that: “No revision can be made, if its result is breaking the citizens’ fundamental rights and liberties or their guarantees”. The Corruption Analysis and Prevention Center is an NGO and a member of the Anti-Corruption Alliance.