There are three groups of conditions without which the macro-financial assistance cannot be allocated, expert in political sciences Dionis Cenusa says in an opinion article for IPN.
According to the politologist, these are very diverse and interdependent. Under the arrangements between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, only their simultaneous fulfillment will enable to initiate the assistance and to subsequently continue it.
The first condition is actually a political precondition and is that the Republic of Moldova respects effective democratic mechanisms, including a multi-party parliamentary system. It would have to respect the rule of law and guarantee respect for human rights. The second condition is to ensure satisfactory implementation of the program with the IMF, which contains important structural reforms, mainly in the financial sector. The third condition consists in the implementation of the Moldova-EU memorandum of understanding on macro-financial assistance, especially as regards the economic policies.
Dionis Cenusa reminds that to strengthen the political precondition, the three European institutions – European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU - signed a joint statement that was agreed as a result of the trialog of June 6, 2017. The statement makes reference to the proposal to change the electoral system, the importance of functional democratic mechanisms and the appropriate fulfillment of the recommendations of the relevant foreign partners, in particular the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR, by the Moldovan authorities.
According to the politologist, the idea of a political precondition is essential for exerting effective pressure on the Democrats, who want to use the mixed-member electoral systems to strengthen their positions in the 2018 elections. Nevertheless, the way in which the precondition is formulated in the statement of the three European institutions is fragile because it is very interpretable.
More exactly, the precondition provides that the European Commission and the European External Action Service will devote increased attention to the way in which the Moldovan authorities follow the recommendations of the foreign partners, especially the Venice Commission.
Based on such a formulation, the Democrats could implement 70-90% of the recommendations of the Venice Commission, as regards the technical aspects and the presidential powers, without giving up the idea of introducing the mixed-member system, concluded the expert.
