Although there are some reservations and more has been expected in terms of achievements in the first session of the current Parliament, there were certain accomplishments – citizens stopped being afraid, the external financial assistance was unblocked and several necessary laws and decisions were passed. That is how the representatives of the parliamentary majority characterize the results of the first session of the new Parliament. At the same time, the opposition representative argues that he sees nothing but chaos and lack of a clear program aimed at tackling citizens' problems. The opinions were expressed at the public debates on the topic: "Summing up of the results of the new Parliament’s first session: the good and the bad", organized by IPN and Radio Moldova.
Igor Botan, the permanent expert of the project, says that as regards the results of the parliamentary session, they should be based on the objectives set by those who govern the country. And those objectives arise from the political understanding between the two groups - PSRM and ACUM. "The political agreement was subsequently translated into a decision taken by the Parliament, which is called the Parliament's Declaration on the country's de-oligarchization. Based on this statement, a government program has been adopted for an indefinite period of time, he said.
"If we give a general appreciation of what happened in this period of two and a half months, we could say that we lived in" heaven ", but" heaven " is an acronym. It is decoded as follows- Review, Investigation and Taking Stocks. So, these were the main things that Parliament and the Government dealt with,” the expert mentioned, giving some examples of how the legal framework was revised, after the departure of the former government.
Also, the following parliamentary investigation commissions were created: "on the bank fraud investigation, on the concession and the privatization of state assets, etc.". Another block of parliamentary activity referred to taking stocks, or rather to the "legacy left by the former government". The expert mentioned that the main arguments in favour of the inventory were due to the fact that many of the drafts and laws passed by the former government, in particular the ones before the elections, had a predominantly electoral character, and their impact was unclear. The expert also said that after two and a half months, the coalition called unnatural by many, has proven to be quite viable. Moreover, its components reach the conclusion that a new agreement is needed, because certain tasks have been fulfilled.
Grigore Novac, member of the Socialist Party group, believes that the period considered was too short to achieve excellent results. In his opinion, the formation of Parliament's working bodies certainly took too long. At the meeting of June 8, deputies were forced to work even in the dark and this surprised the present ambassadors. The parliamentarian says that it is clear that the power cut was made upon order of the former government. But even so, in the end, the formation of the governing bodies, the formation of the profile commissions, etc. was carried out.
Subsequently, the deputies focused on certain matters to get things moving. For these reasons, says the deputy, the ability of Parliament to work and show serious results, will be proven only in the next session. According to him, in addition to the regular session, which has ended, there was also the extraordinary session, in which progress was made. Of course, the deputies wanted more, but in the end it is not a competition for quantity, but the emphasis is on the quality of the projects promoted,” Grigore Novac said.
Alexandru Slusari, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, DA Platform, ACUM bloc, said that society certainly expected more. "But in two months, however, we cannot fail to recognize and even our opponents cannot but recognize - the atmosphere in the society has changed, the air has changed. This fear with which people have lived, especially the last three years, has disappeared,” Alexandru Slusari says, mentioning that the fact that fear is gone is the first success of the new government. Secondly, according to the parliamentarian, in two months the problem of unblocking external financial assistance is solved.
The leader of the DA Platform, ACUM bloc, said that for the most part the temporary agreement signed on June 8 was carried out. "This agreement was achieved in a proportion of 90%. I consider that, based on the legacy and the way we took over the government, the results are relatively good for two months’ work. But I repeat, I also have certain reservations regarding the activity of the Parliament, as well as the activity of the majority and we must be honest with the citizens”, said Alexandru Slusari.
Vladimir Cebotari, a member of the Democratic Party group, says that outside the government, things are a little different. "We see chaos, we see the lack of a clear program focused on addressing citizens' problems. We see nepotism, as Moldova has never seen before - dismissals of professionals and hiring of spouses, relatives, brothers, sisters and so on. I saw what it means for the government to depoliticize the Constitutional Court. The same pattern was applied to the process of changes which occurred in the Government and in other institutions," the parliamentarian said.
According to him, "the current government contributed to the impoverishment of people through taxes, by suspending good projects, by excluding personal exemptions and many other actions." "Increased rates and prices. We'll see what inflation we are going to have, dear colleagues. We'll see what we can afford at the end of this time period or at least in winter. I saw revenge, I saw a lot of hatred, I saw immense hatred," Vladimir Cebotari said. According to him, "no major crime was solved, murders continue to happen, a known man committed suicide." In his opinion, it is not about suicide, but about pressure that leads to committing suicide. The MP said that for these reasons he does not believe that this is the air of freedom.
Representatives of the Action and Solidarity Party and Shor Party were also invited, but did not show up.
The public debate "Summing up of the results of the new Parliament’s first session: the good and the bad" is the 115th instalment of the "Developing Political Culture through Public Debate" Series, held with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
