Political-constitutional crisis derives from amendment of Constitution in 2000, Corneliu Gurin

{Info-Prim Neo article from the Series “Moldova-20! Whereto?”, ORIGINALLY published on 16 August 2011 *** Each of the 20 years of independence in Moldova has its meaning and role in what happened in the period and, undoubtedly, in what is going to happen in the country and the people’s lives in the future. Info-Prim Neo asked politicians, analysts, experts and personalities from different areas to pronounce on the main events that took place during a certain year and assess their impact on the country.} *** [The year 2000 as seen by Corneliu Gurin, expert in parliamentary and constitutional law] [February 10] – There was passed the Law on Administrative Disputed Claims Office. [March 30] – There was adopted the Law on the Condominium. [April 15] – The sociopolitical movement “For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova” became the Democratic Party of Moldova. [March 23] – Parliament raised election threshold for parties and electoral blocs from 4% to 6% by making amendments to the Election Code. [May 11] – Parliament adopted the Law on Access to Information. [June 2] – There was passed a new Law on the Citizenship of Moldova. [July 5] – There were introduced amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, allowing the lawmakers to elect the head of state. [August 30] – There was issued a presidential decree to support and cooperate with Moldovans living abroad. The Government later adopted a decision concerning the steps that will be taken to support the diaspora. [September 20] – The Chisinau Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Club of Graduates of Institutions of Romania and the West (CAIRO), which sued the Broadcasting Coordination Council for violating Article 13 of the Broadcasting Law. [October 5] – Parliament intervenes in the regulation of the administration of the upper internet domain „.md” (Parliament Decision 1271/05.10.2000). The [parliamentary and constitutional law expert Corneliu Gurin] said the year 2000 marked the end of the 20th century and a new stage in the political history of Moldova. The events of the given year and the previous events led to the existence of a ‘one-party government’ - by the Communist Party - in Moldova in the immediate period. The PCRM had held a parliamentary majority during the next eight years. “The revision of the Constitution was the most important event of 2000. The given decision and the events related to it had immediate, short- and long-term effects. The immediate effect was that the Parliament rejected the initiatives of the President of Moldova Petru Luchinski, who proposed strengthening the presidential power and whose initiatives enjoyed considerable popular support, being approved of in the consultative referendum of May 23, 1999 by the vote of 55.3% of the participants, with 30.8% voting against. The final text of the revision law consisted of several bills. The special parliamentary commission set up for the purpose was headed by Deputy Speaker Vadim Misin – a Communist MP who pleaded individually and together with the leader of the Communist group Vladimir Voronin for the introduction of the threshold of 3/5 of the votes of MPs for electing the President. The commission approved the inclusion of an additional norm allowing dissolving the legislative body if the head of state is not elected,” said Corneliu Gurin. According to the expert, the Declaration adopted by the MPs on July 5, 2000 says the changes made to the Constitution “adjust the constitutional system to the models of the most advanced countries, strengthen the executive power and...will exempt society from the burden of a very tiresome and costly election campaign”. The short-term effect was the incapacity and unwillingness of the lawmakers to vote for a candidate for the presidency together with the majority of MPs. Consequently, the legislature was dissolved on the last day of 2000. Early legislative elections were announced for February 25, 2001. As a result, the PCRM won a constitutional majority of seats in Parliament – 71. Corneliu Gurin said the long-term effect continues to be felt as the political-constitutional crisis has lasted for over two years and new early parliamentary elections are possible. Corneliu Gurin also said that another event that wasn’t discussed much, but had a major impact on the situation after 2000 was the amendment of the Election Code by Law 894/23.03.2000, whereby the election threshold for parties and electoral blocs was increased from 4% to 6%. “Representatives of two ruling parties – the Renaissance and Conciliation Party and the Democratic Party of Moldova - voted in favor of the given decision then. In less than a year, they failed to pass the election threshold in the early legislative elections. The first party polled 5.79% of the vote, while the second party – 5.02%. If the election threshold had remained at the level of 4%-5%, the configuration of the Parliament elected on February 25, 2001 would have been different and the PCRM wouldn’t have had enough votes to elect its leader as President of Moldova. Thus, Moldova’s political history would have been different,” said Corneliu Gurin He also said that the lesson that should be learnt is that the political problems must be addressed in a comprehensive and balanced way and the approval of conjuncture-related decisions should be avoided as their impact over time can be opposite to the expected one. Another lesson that the current politicians should learn, according to the expert, is that the changes made to the supreme law must be prepared minutely, discussed extensively in society, and approved by massive popular vote by referendum. “History shows that the democratic and ‘romantic’ parties cannot govern in concert. The legislative body with a democratic majority elected in 1990 was dissolved ahead of time; the Parliament elected in 1998, where there was formed the first democratic alliance, was also dissolved ahead of time; the legislature elected in July 2009, with a majority formed by four democratic parties that came from the opposition, was dissolved one year later; the Parliament elected in November 2010, where three ruling democratic parties form a majority, runs the risk of being dissolved. Among the positive events that took place during the 20 years of independence, Corneliu Gurin mentioned the adoption of the main laws of the independent Moldova: concerning the rehabilitation of the victims of political repressions, entrepreneurship and enterprises, state taxes, patrimonial bonds, privatization, parties and other sociopolitical organizations, the territorial-administrative organization, the Land Code, etc. There was also adopted the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, and implemented the judicial and law reform by creating the law enforcement bodies and the courts of law, including the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Council of Magistrates and the Audit Office. There were established bilateral cooperation relations with most of the states of the world and with the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The elections were conducted in a relatively fair way. Access to information was improved and the freedom of expression ensured. As to the negative events in Moldova’s development, the expert enumerated the Transnistrian dispute, the armed conflict and territorial division of Moldova, the identity conflicts, permanent division of society, continuous pauperization of the majority of the population, the appearance of a number of very rich persons and the rise in the number of very poor persons, the low administrative capacities, the minimum investments in the public administration, the excessive politicization of the central and local public administration, the energy dependence on the East, the permanent political conflicts, the lack of understanding and ability to reach consensus among the political class, excessive exodus of people, economic migration, etc. Corneliu Gurin said among the expectations are the improvement in the living standards, consistent social and economic development, real democratization of society and political parties, respect and tolerance between the political forces, in society, and between different social groups, the formation of a responsible political class that would promote the national interests and aim to improve the situation of most of the people, reintegrate the country and integrate it into the EU. {[Info-Prim Neo note: ] Corneliu Gurin is an expert in parliamentary and constitutional law with a degree in law sciences from the Iasi-based University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”. In 1995-2005, he had held different public posts, including first-degree state adviser of Moldova. Since 2005, he has acted as an independent expert and cooperated with NGOs, international organizations and national and foreign media outlets. He wrote and published books, studies and researches on constitutional law, human rights, European integration and cooperation, public administration, and justice. He is one of the authors of the Election Code, the Law on Legislative Acts, and other documents.} [Dumitrita Ciuvaga, Info-Prim Neo, August 2011]