Moldova's political parties discuss reforms to combat corruption
Representatives of several extra-parliamentary parties attended consultations on Monday, November 18, organised by President Maia Sandu to discuss measures for combating political corruption.
The parliamentary opposition was not invited to the talks. The party representatives put forward their proposals to accelerate judicial reform and the fight against corruption, which are detailed in the report below.
"The Moldovan National Party proposed that individuals caught by law enforcement for accepting or offering electoral bribes, in addition to the fines imposed, should be stripped of their right to participate in any election, with penalties of up to 37,500 lei," said PNM President Dragoș Galbur.
"Today, we submitted a draft law to the President, as a legislative initiative, to punish the misuse of administrative resources," said CUB leader Igor Munteanu.
Gaik Vartanean of MAN proposed that certain institutions be placed under the control of the opposition.
"We proposed returning to the practice of having more state institutions controlled by the opposition. First and foremost, this concerns the Central Electoral Commission, which is currently controlled by the ruling party, the Audiovisual Council, and the Court of Accounts, which should audit how funds from external partners or the national budget are spent."
The leader of the People's Power Party highlighted the unfair competition between parliamentary and extra-parliamentary parties.
"We, the smaller parties, are severely affected when certain areas are over-regulated. The Central Electoral Commission and the Electoral Code have not harmed the parties with substantial financial resources that can afford to buy votes, but they have negatively impacted us, the smaller parties, who struggle daily to raise donations and gather volunteers," said Ruslan Codreanu.
The parties expressed their openness to assume responsibility for the developments in the Republic of Moldova.
"We have committed to contributing to the reform of the Electoral Code and Penal Code, as well as to strengthening sanctions on political corruption by December. There are a series of actions we need to take. It is important that we, as opposition parties, are involved and responsible for everything that happens in our country," said ALDE President Arina Spătaru.
"We have tried to be as inclusive as possible in this discussion, and the talks focused on combating political corruption and enhancing the institutions that fight against it. It was a very constructive discussion. I want to emphasise that many representatives of political parties highlighted the importance of discussions on such a platform, and there were also constructive proposals that we will examine," said Maia Sandu's Chief of Staff, Adrian Băluțel.
The parties also agreed on the idea of signing a declaration to combat political corruption in the Republic of Moldova and concluded that meticulous preparation and strengthening of the pro-European right-wing is necessary ahead of the parliamentary elections. Next week, discussions will continue both on the parliamentary platform and at the government level, with the parties being able to present proposals for revising the legislative framework in the fields of the Penal or Electoral Codes.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
