Prosecutor’s Office and special services did not confirm Vladimir Voronin’s allegations of illicit political financing, says Vitalia Pavlicenco

The leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), MP Vitalia Pavlicenco says that the accusations of illegal political financing from abroad made earlier by President Vladimir Voronin have not been confirmed by the Prosecutor’s Office and the special services of Moldova. Asked by Info-Prim Neo to comment on the statements made by the head of state at the meeting of the Board of the Security and Information Service (SIS) last week, Vitalia Pavlicenco said that the subject of illicit party and media financing from abroad was raised by Vladimir Voronin last year too. According to Pavlicenco, on April 6, 2007 the paper “Communist” published the speech made by the President at the ninth plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the PCRM where Vladimir Voronin refers to political parties financed from abroad, whose aim is to destabilise the situation, as the head of state said. Given that the party she heads was mentioned directly, MP Vitalia Pavlicenco on April 13, 2007 made an interpellation to the SIS, Prosecutor’s Office and the Centre for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime (CCCEC) demanding that the given institutions produce evidence confirming that PLN is financed from abroad. The President enumerated then the parties headed by Serafim Urecheanu, Dumitru Braghis, Vitalia Pavlicenco, Oleg Serebrian, Eduard Musuc, Nicolae Andronic and Valeri Klimenco. In the answer given by the Deputy Prosecutor General Valeriu Botnari on May 22, 2007, the general Prosecutor’s Office declines responsibility for controlling party’s sources of income, in accordance with the law. The CCCEC’s response given by Valentin Mejinschi says the same. The Security and Information Service’s response letter signed by the SIS head Ion Ursu made reference to certain materials published by the Romanian press, but said that the Service does not possess additional information to satisfy Vitaliei Pavlicencu’s request. At the meeting of the SIS Board on January 31, Vladimir Voronin said that the Security and Information Service has the task to combat illegal political and media financing, including from abroad. The Opposition parties play an important part in a democratic society, but only in the circumstances in which their activity is not directed against the state, Vladimir Voronin said. At the same time, the President stressed that the Service must not get involved in political processes, but fulfil its duties in strict compliance with the law, says the communiqué from the presidential press service published by Info-Prim Neo in detail on February 1. Later, IPN published the opinions of political leaders and heads of media nongovernmental organizations about this subject.