Moldovan language" is a late draft, says Moldovan chief of legislature
The draft law that has already been voted in the first reading on replacing the phrase "Moldovan language" with "Romanian language" was a late one, says the head of the legislature, Igor Grosu. Speaking about the protest of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BCS), which took place today, 6 March, in front of the Constitutional Court, Igor Grosu says that "a few days will pass and it will calm down".
"I can tell you that it is a delayed decision. Moldova is very late and somehow it is a behaviour that we have to correct. I refer to the decisions of the Constitutional Court. Such a tradition of letting things drift has developed. This is something we have corrected. Maybe we had to look more at whether the legal way is right, to make sure that we do not give any chance to the so-called protesters to put this change at risk. It's a belated but necessary one. The Romanian language is at home and it is Romanian 24/7," Igor Grosu told Radio Moldova's "360 degrees".
The Speaker also commented on statements made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zaharova, who said it was "the Americans' hand" and that "the Republic of Moldova is abandoning its mother tongue".
"This is not the first thing said about the Republic of Moldova. I have a message for her and for those who push her to say these things: The naming of the language, the history, the country is an internal, sovereign matter of the Republic of Moldova, and I get very sad when people who have no idea, at least do not speak the Romanian language, do not understand it, have the nerve to give us lessons on how to name our language. That is why, for those with big brother, imperialist attitudes, I ask them to refrain and leave us alone. It is a scientific, proven name, that it is called the Romanian language, and our children learn it, and those who protest," said Igor Grosu.
With reference to the protest organised by BCS in front of the Constitutional Court, the Speaker of the Parliament says that "their hypocrisy is great".
"Some of them took their children to private high schools, founded by Romanians, with Romanian teachers. Four of them (opposition MPs) even have Romanian citizenship. You'll see, a few days will pass and they'll calm down. The Constitutional Court has interpreted that the Declaration of Independence is part of the Constitution and it is clearly written there. We did nothing but change this phrase", said Igor Grosu.
The phrase "Romanian language" will replace "Moldovan language" in all Moldovan legislation. The terms "official language", "state language" and "mother tongue" will also be replaced. A draft providing for this was voted in first reading on 2 March. MPs also propose to consider the obsolete text "operating on the basis of the Latin spelling" in Article 13 of the Constitution.
Another provision in the document is that the national holiday "Our language" should be called "Romanian language".
