Voronin resigned exactly as he governed – irresponsibly, jurist

Doctor of law Alexandru Arseni considers that Parliament should set up a committee to investigate each case when Vladimir Voronin awarded state distinctions and honorific titles, especially on his final days of term in office. At the same time, the jurist affirms that the Moldovan Constitution contains a gap concerning the powers of the acting head of state, which must be closed in order to avoid similar abuses in the future. Although the Constitution fails to set limits for the acting president, like in the case of the caretaker Government, the abusive decisions could be annulled. “Each case of abuse, and those were certainly abusive actions committed by Voronin in order to settle some old debts, can and will be appealed in the Constitutional Court and annulled”, Arseni stated. This committee could make the proper findings and, depending on its decision, Parliament may appeal the decrees inked by Voronin as a remuneration for the people who have been loyal to the communists, says the expert, adding that the decrees signed earlier can also be revised, as the law doesn’t set any limitation in time for that. Just a couple of days before his formal resignation, Vladimir Voronin signed a number of decrees, among which, to appoint Valentin Mejinschi as Ambassador to Poland, to promote Viorel Melnic to the rank of Customs Major-General, to confer the Order of the Republic on the communist mayor of Balti Vasile Panciuc, to award medals of Labor Glory to Serghei Drobot, one of the owners of the pro-government channel NIT, to Valentin Bodistean, the general director of the petrol company Valiexchimp, and to Leonid Volneanschi, general director of the company ELAT, said to be one of the sponsors of the Communists Party. Other state distinctions were awarded to a number of officers at the Anticorruption Center and several presenters at pro-government television channels. Voronin also decorated a group of staffers at Russia’s Gazprom “in recognition for the merits in establishing and developing mutually advantageous relations among the gas management corporations from Russia and Moldova”. Commenting on Voronin’s departure from the post of president, Arseni stated that he resigned exactly as he governed – irresponsibly, without scruples or ethics. Voronin’s choice not to present his resignation before Parliament was cowardice, added Arseni. According to the jurist, this thing demonstrates once again that the people has meant for Voronin a mere voting machine, or like the ex-president himself used to say “rednecks”, said Arseni. Vladimir Voronin announced his formal resignation on September 11 to be able to occupy the seat of MP. Later that day Parliament appointed Speaker Mihai Ghimpu as acting president, a decision the Constitutional Court is yet to validate.