PACE President: Moldova faces problems because it delayed reforms

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said he witnesses developing democracy in Moldova and urged the Moldovan MPs not to forget about the role played by the Government and the Opposition. He made the statement in Parliament on Thursday, March 25, Info-Prim Neo reports. Speaking about the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the April 7 events, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the victims of those events should be awarded compensations, while those to blame should be held accountable. He also said that those tragic events could have been avoided if the power had been passed on in normal circumstances. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stressed that he witnessed developing democracy in Moldova. “Those who shift from the Opposition to power should put their slogans into practice. In a democratic country, the Opposition is an important power. The people put their trust in both of the sides and it is registrable that the Parliament failed to elect the head of state two times,” he said. “Moldova is a sovereign country and can take its own decisions. We can only give advice. It is hard to imagine that the people will again have to go to the polls,” the European official said, recommending that all the parliamentary groups should reach a compromise as regards the modification of article 78 in Parliament. At the end of his speech, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said there had been no political will in Moldova during several years and the reforms have been delayed. “I did not come here to judge and criticize, but I consider that many of the problems you face today could have been avoided if the reforms had been implemented in time,” he said. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu addressed the Communist parliamentary group, which came to the sitting only to listen to his discourse, and urged them to get involved in solving the problems confronting the country together with the government coalition. The Communists left the assembly hall immediately after Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's departure. “Following this speech, we will ask for a meeting with Speaker Mihai Ghimpu to agree on the conditions under which the Communist faction will resume attending the parliamentary sittings,” said the Communist leader Vladimir Voronin.