Fifteenth anniversary of Moldova’s Constitution celebrated in Chisinau ahead of time

During the 15 years after the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the constitutional democracy has proved its viability, Moldova’s outgoing president Vladimir Voronin said Wednesday at a festive meeting dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Moldovan Constitution. Yet, the former presidents of Moldova Mircea Snegur and Petru Lucinschi consider that much is said about the observance of the human rights and freedoms in Moldova, but no progress is made, Info-Prim Neo reports. The meeting was attended by ministers, judges, representatives of diplomatic missions and guests from abroad. In his speech, Vladimir Voronin said that 15 years is yet a too short period compared with Moldova’s six centuries long history. “The Constitution is a document that expresses the people’s will. The emphasis should not be placed on the shortcomings of the Constitution, but on the realization of its potential,” Voronin said. He reiterated the necessity of educating the society in a patriotic spirit so that it is not prejudiced by separatism. The first president of Moldova Mircea Snegur said that the European integration implies the exact observance of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the people. ”Seeing the wrongdoings committed and that many people can find justice only at the European Court of Human Rights, the ordinary people began to question the power of the law. When the rights and freedoms are not guaranteed, conditions appear for social disturbances and conflicts between the society and the state,” Snegur said. The second Moldovan president Petru Lucinschi drew a parallel between the Constitution of Moldova and the Soviet Constitution, which, though democratic, formally was applied as the regime acted. “The Moldovan Constitution has a purely European content, but it is not appropriately applied. Unfortunately, not the legislation, but the head of state’s instructions are now fulfilled. The fact that the people have not yet abandoned the Soviet system arouses indignation,” Lucinschi said. “Owing to the cooperation with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, Moldova has a constitutional framework that enables it to follow the European constitutions,” said Aivars Endzins, a member of the Venice Commission. He stated that in a poly-ethnic society like Moldova, the Constitution regulates the relations between the national and linguistic minorities. “The Constitution should not remain a text on paper, but be alive. The constitutional values will not be useful if they are not put into practice.” Ioan Vida, president of the Romanian Constitutional Court, said that the adoption of the Constitution of Moldova 15 years ago fundamentally changed the political values of the state, alongside other former Soviet states, after the revolutions of 1988 - 1989. Nicolai Bondari, judge at the Constitutional Court of Russia, said that the Russian and Moldovans democratic constitutional principles are much the same. Another two conferences dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Moldovan Constitution will take place on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova was adopted by the Parliament on July 29, 1994. The anniversary is marked earlier as July 29 is the day of parliamentary elections in Moldova.