The 4 March 2016 judgment by the Constitutional Court of Moldova (CCM), which restores the citizens’ right to elect the Head of State, prevents political crises and removes the institutional deadlocks that have marked Moldovan society for 16 years, since Parliament fraudulently amended the Constitution’s provisions concerning the election of the President. Such statement were made by the President of the Constitutional Court of Moldova Alexandru Tănase in an interview entitled “There are essential differences between judgments of the Constitutional Court of Moldova and political attitudes”, which was given to IPN News Agency and was published on 14 March.
According to him, the practical effects of the CCM judgment of 4 March 2016 are related especially to the fact that any institutional deadlock on the ground of non-election of the President shall be permanently avoided. “This source of deadlock has been removed. The President will no longer be the subject of agreements and obscure bargains, but will be the emanation of the people, which holds the sovereignty of the state power. We will not attend anymore backstage arrangements in order to gather the votes needed to elect the Head of State, since it is more difficult to corrupt an entire nation, then only a certain individual. Therefore, the future President will enjoy a whole new level of legitimacy,” said the President of the Constitutional Court.
Alexandru Tănase noted that the judgment of 4 March 2106 does not affect the form of government in the Republic of Moldova. “Moldova remains a parliamentary republic, except that the President will be elected by the whole nation. Similar models exist in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Turkey, Finland etc. Therefore, any discussions about "CCM’s intervention on the reform of the political system" are pure speculation or unfamiliarity with the issue. Beyond the academic discussion on the name of the political system, I would like to point out that the CCM judgment does not affect any of the President’s powers. Moreover, there is a comprehensive CCM caselaw which balances and adjusts the role of the President within the parliamentary regime,” he stated.
Also, the CMM judgment does not have an impact on the mandates and acts issued by the two presidents elected under the parliamentary procedure. “The Court stated in clear terms that the judgment has no effect on the mandates of presidents elected by Parliament, as it does not have any direct and automatic impact on acts issued by the two presidents. Therefore, both mandates and acts of Mr Voronin and Mr Timofti are perfectly legitimate and legal and there is no doubt in this regard. Even the operative part of the judgment expressly indicates that it shall take effect only for the future,” Alexandru Tănase said in the interview for IPN.
