Venice Commission President: “Modification of procedure for electing head of state is a priority for Moldova”

“The Constitution of Moldova should be indeed modified. The procedure for electing the President must be amended as a priority in order to overcome the numerous crises. Other modifications can wait” the President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio said during a briefing in Chisinau on February 10, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We want to see political stability in Moldova. Steps must be taken to deal with the crises and start work. The world faces a period of economicofinancial crisis and Moldova should not make the situation worse by adding new crises,” Gianni Buquicchio said. Speaker Mihai Ghimpu, Moldova's Acting President, said the constitutional crisis in Moldova would not be overcome if the method of electing the head of state is not changed. “Moldova faces a constitutional crisis that, if not solved, can cause a political crisis, which, in turn, can lead to an economic and social crisis.,” he said. Ghimpu assured that all the proposals to modify the Constitution of Moldova will be submitted to the Venice Commission for consideration first and then to the Parliament of Moldova for approval. The constitutional reform commission is now examining the first proposals formulated by the working group for constitutional analyses. The given proposals were handed over to Gianni Buquicchio. The President of the Venice Commission also said that he had meetings with representatives of all the parliamentary groups and realized that there are prospects for bringing the political dispute to an end. He stressed the experts of the Commission will examine thoroughly the proposals of the working group, will analyze the arguments provided by the representatives of the parliamentary groups and will return to Chisinau to continue the discussions during February 24-26. “We hope by then the political parties will identify a solution. We think this is possible,” Gianni Buquicchio said.