The timeframe of three months for forming the Government, set in the Constitution, started on December 9, 2014, when the parliamentary elections were validated. On this date, based on Article 103, par. (1) of the Constitution, the Government completed its mandate and the process of forming a new Government began. This term expires on March 9, 2015, regardless of the procedures for forming and investing the new Cabinet. Such explanations are provided by the president of the Constitutional Court Alexandru Tanase on his blog, IPN reports.
In Decision No. 30 of October 1, 2013 for interpreting Article 85 par. (1) and par. (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (dissolution of Parliament), the Constitutional Court stipulates that the timeframe of three months, set in par. (1) of Article 85, is the deadline for dissolving Parliament, which applies to both of the cases when a crisis or a conflict situation occurs, namely the impossibility of forming the Government or the blocking of the procedure for adopting laws. Moldova’s President can dissolve Parliament if it didn’t give a vote of confidence to the Cabinet only if two conditions are met, namely after the period of 45 days of the first request to give a vote of confidence expires and after the second request for investiture is rejected.
Thus, this term of three months includes the periods for consulting the parliamentary groups and other legal procedures. At the same time, the term of 45 days, which is absorbed by the three-month period, refers to the period after which the President can dissolve Parliament if at least one candidate was rejected during it, in addition to the first designated candidate. The constitutional phrase ‘at least two requests for investiture’ allows the head of state to designate more than two candidates for the post of Prime Minister, but all the required procedures must be performed within the timeframe of three months.
The Constitutional Court stated that the President’s right to dissolve or not to dissolve Parliament if the vote of confidence is not given to the Government begins to apply after the period of 45 days of the first request expires and when at least two requests for investiture are rejected before the period of three months expires. If Parliament does not manage to invest the Government within three months, the head of state is obliged to dissolve the legislative body.
Therefore, regardless of the circumstances that determined the lack of the vote of confidence, the failure to form the new Government within three months inevitably leads to the dissolution of Parliament.
