Previous and future amendments to Constitution refer to Article 78

The most important modification to the Constitution of Moldova was made in 2000, when Article 78 concerning the election of the head of state was amended. The essential changes needed now concern the same article because the current version of the article distorts the political life and pushes us into a constitutional crisis, constitutional law expert Vitali Catana stated for Info-Prim Neo. The expert said the supreme law of the state went through many changes in 1996, 2000, and 2003. The modifications concerned the status of the judges and MPs, and the election of the President. “The given norm (regarding the election of the head of state) is not in accordance with the principles by which we define the notion of democracy. The given amendment distorts the political life and pushes us into a constitutional crisis,” said Vitali Catana, adding that Article 78 must be amended repeatedly as it sends the people to elections every year. The provisions concerning entry into the EU must also be modified. “Almost all the countries that had to adjust the national standards to the European ones went through this. We should also make such changes to our Constitution no matter how quickly Moldova joins the EU,” said Vitali Catana. Another amendment should apply to the official language. “The Opposition that existed earlier does not exist now. Even the Russians speak about the Romanian language. The academicians should formulate a recommendation saying that we have the Romanian language and the Parliament can take a decision on the basis of this recommendation,” said the expert. According to Vitalie Catana, the Constitution should be amended by a special commission involving representatives of civil society and foreign experts. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova was adopted on July 29, 1994. On August 18, 1994 it was published in the Official Gazette. It was formulated on the basis of the Constitution of Romania, which was inspired by the French Constitution.