Gheorghe Susarenco: Public authorities that do not implement Parliament decisions must be held accountable

Constitutional law expert and Deputy Minister of Justice Gheorghe Susarenco considers that if the local public authorities do not agree with the Parliament decisions or the decisions of the President and make public their positions on this, they should be held responsible. The statement was made during a program on Radio Moldova, whose invitees also included the head of the Public Policy Institute Arcadie Barbarosie and the head of the Electronic Press Association Ion Bunduchi, Info-Prim Neo reports. Gheorghe Susarenco said it looks like separatism or overthrow when a public authority says it will not implement a Parliament decision and punishments should be imposed on those who refuse to obey such decisions. The subject was discussed in the context of the September 5 constitutional referendum and the Balti Communist councilors’ intention to boycott the plebiscite. “A separate law on referendum is needed that will clearly describe how to campaign for the referendum and how the mass media should organize at least the debates,” said Ion Bunduchi. The Deputy Minister of Justice replied that no new laws should be invented because we have enough laws. “We have the Constitution, which is the supreme law. Any normative document that runs counter to the Constitution must be removed. The more we regulate, the deeper we sink,” Susarenco said. In another development, the participants in the program said the aim of the referendum is to unlock the constitutional crisis. “The PCRM and other parties could have a negative impact, but I think the people will make the correct choice,” Arcadie Barbarosie said. Contacted by phone during the program, Moldova’s ex-President Petru Luchinski said a consultative referendum was held in 1999 as a consequence of the inexistence of the principle of separation of powers in the state. “Unfortunately, the prerogatives of the President, Parliament and Government in our country are not clear. A power vacuum appeared then. The Parliament assumed all the power and the Government was limited in its acts. Thus, in 1999 it was impossible to decide something,” Petru Luchinski added. On September 5, voters will be asked whether they are in favor or against amending the Constitution so that it allows for direct election of the head of state.