President Maia Sandu said the Parliament decisions to revoke its decision by which Domnica Manole was named judge of the Constitutional Court and to name Boris Lupașco in her place are unconstitutional. She requested the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate these actions from the angle of usurpation of power in the state and said that she will ask the people to take to the streets, if need be, IPN reports.
President Maia Sandu noted that yesterday’s decisions of Parliament are contrary to the spirit of the law and were made by MPs who are afraid of snap parliamentary elections.
“Under the legislation, Parliament cannot remove a Constitutional Court judge. After this unconstitutional vote, another unconstitutional action followed – the attempt to name another person as judge at the Court. There are persons in this Parliament who no way want to reach the people’s judgment,” Maia Sandu stated in the talk show “Good Evening” on the public TV channel Moldova 1.
Moreover, the President requested the law enforcement bodies not to allow the situation to destabilize, not to become involved in fulfilling unconstitutional, illegal orders and to ensure the constitutional order, including the security of the CC members.
“I asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to probe the decisions taken by Parliament and to determine to what extent these actions qualify as usurpation of state power,” said the official.
Maia Sandu does not rule out the possibility that large-scale protests will be needed so as to hasten the snap elections.
“I want to tell the citizens to get ready. I hope it won’t be necessary, but if it’s necessary, we should take to the streets to defend our constitutional right to elections. A lot of people support the objective to trigger snap elections and to bring this crisis to an end,” noted the official.
On April 23, Parliament revoked its August 2019 decision to appoint Domnica Manole as a Constitutional Court judge, naming ex-prosecutor Boris Lupașco in her place for a six-year term. The parliamentary majority also adopted a statement on the capture of the Constitutional Court. The U.S. Embassy in Chisinau and the Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova described the actions as an abuse and an attack on the Constitutional Court’s independence and democracy.
