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Briefness first and foremost – September 19, 2018 IPN digest


https://www.ipn.md/index.php/en/briefness-first-and-foremost-september-19-2018-ipn-digest-7978_1044214.html

Prime Minister Pavel Filip had a farewell meeting with U.S. Ambassador in Chisinau James Pettit, who is completing his duties in Moldova. On this occasion, the Premier reiterated the objective of continuing implementing the government program that is based on the Association Agreement with the European Union.

The Premier highly appreciated the work done by the ambassador, underlining that the support provided constantly by the United States to Moldova was felt in different areas by concrete actions and initiatives. Best wishes, remember Moldova, Ambassador!

Undoubtedly, Speaker Andrian Candu will also manage to bid farewell to the ambassador even if he went on live and is now visiting the U.S. with the travel expenses being covered with extra-budgetary funds, as the Parliament’s press service said in a press release. As the vice president of the PDM, he met with Wess Mitchell, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. In the absence of a reaction from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Department of State concerning the Democratic heavyweight’s visit to the U.S., we will quote the aforementioned press release, which says that “the sides underlined the importance of holding the parliamentary elections of 2019 in accordance with the international democratic standards and principles.”

Being on an electoral wave, the Democratic Party of Moldova is preparing the public opinion for a possible coalition with the Party of Socialists and the Shor Party in the future Parliament, considers the vice president of the Liberal Party Valeriu Munteanu. This stated that after suppressing the PLDM and driving the PL away from government, the PDM took actions that didn’t match the European integration message, such as summary arrests, replacement of the electoral system contrary to the Venice Commission’s opinion, invalidation of the Chisinau elections, expulsion of Turkish citizens and citizenship by investment. These are issues that could be neither implanted in the minds of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova nor sold abroad to the development partners.

For their part, the IPN Experts are examining the President’s decision to proclaim himself an active electoral agent of the PSRM and to take the bull by the horns, aiming exactly at the country’s existential problem – the Transnistrian settlement, which is the country’s reintegration: “After the parliamentary elections, we will discuss concrete scenarios how this reintegration can take place, but any form of reintegration will be discussed at a referendum”.

So, following these and other promises, if the PSRM scores a victory in the February 2019 elections, this will have to hold three referendums – two constitutional ones and a consultative one:  1) on the country’s reintegration; 2) on the presidential republic; and 3) on the scarping of the Association Agreement with the EU so as to join the EEU. The problem is that the first referendum, no matter which of the three, will influence the results of the other referendums. A solution is for all the three referendums to be held on the same day or it will take the whole eventual government mandate to organize these. But a new problem appears here! In 2017, the President tried to organize four (!) referendums on the same day and the Constitutional Court prevented him from mingling the questions.

It’s good that the number of unvaccinated children has declined. The number of students who caught measles during a week decreased from 84 to three. The situation concerning measles was discussed in hearings staged by the Parliament’s  commission on social protection, health and family. It was noted that a campaign to inform the population about the necessity of vaccinating the children and the risk of anti-vaccination campaigns is needed in Moldova. The national legislation should be made stricter by introducing penalties for parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated.

As regards the situation concerning the African swine fever, this becomes more alarming. The virus is carried not only by wild boars, but also by infected fodder. A number of 17 hotbeds were reported in only ten days. Given such a situation, the Commission for Emergencies was convoked on September 19.

The public opinion continues to be bothered about the expulsion of the seven teachers of the Theoretical Lyceum “Orizont”. During 25 years of its foundation, there was peace in the lyceum, said teachers and representatives of the Parents Committee of the private education institution. These demand that the Turkish citizens who continue working at the lyceum should be granted political asylum and the status of refugee.

The seven Turkish teachers of the Theoretical Lyceum “Orizont”, who were expelled to Turkey on September 6, were taken to different penitentiaries and not all of them have lawyers. At least one of them suffered injuries, an elbow fracture, but nothing is known about the conditions in which they are held, Galina Tufekci, the wife of the director of the lyceum’s branch in Ceadâr-Lunga who was among those expelled, stated in a news conference at IPN.

More details on IPN!