The draft amendment introducing the phrase “Romanian language” across the national legislation is not a measure to amend the Constitution, but to implement a 2013 ruling of the Constitutional Court, argues PAS lawmaker Veronica Roșca. On the other hand, members of the parliamentary opposition say that amending the Constitution through a simple organic law is a “legal absurdity”.
Last week, the PAS majority in Parliament approved a draft amendment in the first reading replacing the phrases “Moldovan language”, “official language”, “state language” and “mother tongue” with “Romanian language” across the legislation.
“It is an amendment to put in practice the Constitutional Court ruling of 2013, whereby the Court found that the Declaration of Independence prevails. I was glad to see that no one from the opposition in the standing committees contested that the language is in fact Romanian. Our amendment is not a measure to amend the Constitution, it is an amendment to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court. If the Constitutional Court found this to be the undeniable truth, the Court’s decisions are binding and final, so I don’t think we should listen to what all sorts of amateurs are saying”, Veronica Roșca said during a ProTV talk show.
On Friday, the Bloc of Communists and Socialists gathered a rally outside the Constitutional Court to protest the PAS decision. According to the opposition parliamentarians, the Constitution can be amended by the will of the citizens expressed in a referendum, or with a two-thirds supermajority in Parliament.
“The Declaration of Independence is a political act, whereas the Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic of Moldova. A political act cannot prevail over a legal act. The Constitution explicitly details the procedure of constitutional amendments. They are trying through an organic law to amend the Constitution, which is a total legal absurdity. Furthermore, the Constitution cannot be amended during a state of emergency. Are we in a state of emergency or what? If they want to change the Constitution, they must change it legally. If they change the law illegally, they are usurpers”, BCS lawmaker Grigore Novac argued.
