The autumn parliamentary session opens on September 4, when the MPs start work on the standing commissions. The first plenary sitting of Parliament will be convened when the Standing Bureau decides. IPN’s reporter asked MPs about the priorities of the parliamentary groups in the new legislative session.
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Secretary of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party Sergiu Sarbu said the group’s priorities for the current session derive from the provisions of the government program, the Association Agenda and the roadmap signed by the Premier and the Speaker of Parliament. The Government reform is to be completed and a number of framework laws are to be debated and adopted. As to the cooperation with MPs from other groups, Sergiu Sarbu said he hopes this will be efficient and everyone will leave the political struggles aside as these have no value for the people.
The priority of the Socialists is to find a legal solution to dissolve Parliament, which, according to them, does not represent the people’s will. The Socialists plead for holding early election as soon as possible. “A number of our initiatives were intentionally blocked the previous sessions. Now, together we the presidential office, we prepared about 60 social and economic legislative proposals, but are not too optimistic about the chances of these being supported by the parliamentary majority. That’s why we want early elections,” said MP Vlad Batrancea.
Liberal MP Mihai Ghimpu said the rise in pensions and salaries should be a top priority for all the parliamentary groups in the current session. The Liberal Party will further insist on the idea of Moldova’s union with Romania. “Only within Romania can we have higher pensions and salaries. I hope the people will understand one thing: the current power and the future powers cannot solve these problems,” stated Mihai Ghimpu. He noted the commitments assumed by Moldova through the Association Agreement signed with the EU remain a priority for the Liberals. “The basic human rights and freedoms should be brought to the forefront,” stated the Liberal leader. As to the cooperation with other groups, he said the Liberals support everything that can bring improvements. “Each group has its own working plan that is based on the party’s government program. If particular things coincide and some of the projects related to areas of public interest are promoted, there is no problem in this regard,” stated Mihai Ghimpu.
“The firm position of the Communist parliamentary group is to free the Republic of Moldova from the government that has captured the country during eight years as soon as possible,” said the head of the Communist group Inna Supac. A first step is to strengthen the efforts of the opposition parties so as not to allow the current government to implement the mixed electoral system in the upcoming parliamentary elections. “The Party of Communists also wants to see results in the investigation of the theft of the US$ 1 billion. The current government intentionally promotes other initiatives so as to distract the people’s attention from this issue. For now, we can only ascertain that as long as the current government is in power, the Republic of Moldova will not develop,” stated the MP.
Head of the European People’s Party parliamentary group Valeriu Ghiletski said the group will focus on the monitoring of the activity of the authorities within the broad reform process. “There are a series of laws that were adopted only in the first reading and are to be debated and passed in the second reading. Among these is the law on the activity of banks, the law on the prevention and fighting of money laundering and terrorism financing. These laws should be improved as they are very important and the debates on them will be heated,” anticipated the MP. He reminded that the draft budgetary-fiscal and customs policy and the draft law for the next year are traditionally debated at yearend. The emphases and priorities in Parliament should be changed and sources should be identified to develop infrastructure in all the areas of activity. “We will monitor the implementation of the electoral system changes given that the electoral constituencies are to be agreed this autumn that will be a period of intense activity,” said Valeriu Ghiletski.
Head of the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group Tudor Deliu said the Lib-Dems has a number of legislative proposals, but all the opposition’s initiatives have so far gathered dust on shelves and are not included in the agenda of sittings. “That’s why the group in the current session will be that bell that sounds the alarm as to the illegalities committed in Parliament, as during the previous session. We will thus be those who will sensitize the public opinion, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova to the need to transform Parliament into a legislative body not a corporation that decides what should be done overnight,” said the Lib-Dem.
