MPs quarrel over Parliament sittings going off the air

On Friday, March 23, Parliament passed in two readings the amendment to the Parliament Regulations, providing that national TV and radio stations will no longer be obliged to broadcast Parliament sittings live. On the same day, the amendment to the Regulations has been published in the “Official Monitor of Moldova”. The draft law aroused debates and argument among MPs for more than 2 hours. Thus, according to the amendments proposed by Christian-democrat MPs Iurie Rosca, Stefan Secareanu and communist MP Victor Stepaniuc, “Parliament’s plenary sittings, except for the secret ones, [may] be broadcasted live on national radio and TV stations, in compliance with the provisions of the Audiovisual Code, or at Parliament’s initiative, by simple majority of votes.” In contrast, the newly published Regulations stipulate that “plenary sittings … [are] broadcasted live on national radio and TV stations”. The authors of the draft justified the need of this amendment by the fact that obliging “Teleradio-Moldova” Company (TRM) to transmit sittings live would mean interference in the Company’s editorial and financial policy, which contravenes the provisions of the Audiovisual Code (CA). Also, according to them, live transmissions cost about MDL 2.3 mln per year. Opposition MPs criticised the bill, mentioning that its real purpose is to “shut the opposition’s mouth” and avoid letting the population know “about the violations committed by communists and their allies”. When asked about the degree to which the authors observed those 10 conditions brought by PPCD when electing Vladimir Voronin as head of state, this being the only condition that has been fulfilled, Stepaniuc, who read the bill, said: “I don’t really read those 10 conditions, I don’t know them very well and have no personal concern for them. This is an internal issue of PPCD”. According to the MP representing “Moldova Noastra” Alliance, Veaceslav Untila, the initiative confirms the fact that PCRM and PPCD have already begun their electoral campaign, and the ceasing of live transmission is part of their propagandistic arsenal. “The allies try to cover their gaps which make them vulnerable. After friendly sharing the two media sources – “Euro TV” and “Antena C”, the two parties no longer need live broadcasting”, Untila mentioned. According to him, by examining this initiative, the Constitution was violated, because at that moment the Regulations were not even published. This bill “limits the citizens’ constitutional right to free access to information”, Untila concluded. Leader of Democrat faction, Dumitru Diacov, stated that it is totally unserious to refer to costs. “If the sittings will no longer be transmitted live, the 2 stations will include their own programmes, the cost of which will not be smaller. Concerning the interference into the editorial policy of the Company, the argument would have been acceptable, if we ignored the fact that nearly each programme of “Moldova 1” is under a government contract. The fact that the decision is made on the eve of local elections is a very bad thing, as we put an end to the good things implemented in recent times”, Diacov stated. Leader of PPCD Iurie Rosca, deputy speaker and one of the draft law’s authors said that Moldova is the only country in the Council of Europe where sittings are broadcasted live on public channels. In other states, these transmissions are made by special channels or online. Rosca further stated that those 10 “proposals” have been exploited “abusively, perversely and faithlessly” by some MPs. According to him, “MPs are only preoccupied with performing shows and plays at the microphone”. “I initiated this reform and I believe that it should be ceased, because the Audiovisual Code was adopted, the reform in the filed will be liberalised in short time and a new leadership of “Teleradio-Moldova” will be elected”, Rosca added. AMN faction suggested that the voting be nominal, but the proposal wasn’t been accepted by communist and Christian-democrat MPs. In protest, AMN MPs left the sitting hall. The bill was approved in first and second reading by the vote of 58 MPs from PCRM and PPCD. In protest, Christian-democrat MP Gheorghe Susarenco announced he refused his membership in the faction. Condition no. 5, of those 10 announced by PPCD on April 4, 2005 as conditions for re-electing the head of state stipulated: “To ensure transparency of the governance, the legislation shall be amended to broadcast live Parliament plenary sittings and Government meetings on national radio and TV stations”.