Parliamentary COURIERNo. 1, May 2006 Newsletter of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova pag. 4 Marian LUPU: Political consensus should be maintained in the best interest of the country pag. 8 Strengthening of local autonomy has started pag.17 Life of Parliamentary factions pag. 24 Calendar programme – a condition for EU integration CONTENT Welcoming speach 3 Marian LUPU: Political consensus should be maintained in the best interest of the country 4 Moldovan Parliament’s statement in response to Russian State Duma statement from 19 April 2006 6 Declaration of the Moldovan Parliament on the artificial escalation of tension on the Transnistrian portion of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, adopted by MPs on 9 March 2006 7 Strengthening of local autonomy has started 8 Political consensus is key to success 9 Parliamentary dimension of European integration process 10 Legal framework 11 The Moldovan Parlament of the 16th convocation 14 Transnistrian business gets legal 16 Life of Parliamentary factions 17 A long lasting monitoring 20 Parliament and civil society cooperate! 22 Calendar programme – a condition for EU integration 24 Interpellations by deputies 25 Parliament is answering... 26 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. The articles in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the official views of the United Nations Development Programme or Parlia- ment of the Republic of Moldova. Articles may be freely reproduced. “Parliamentary Courier” is a quarterly newsletter published with the support of the UNDP Moldova project “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of the Parliament”. no. 1 May 2006 WELCOMING SPEACH In the past 10 years, the United Na- entitled “Strengthening the Institutional tions Development Programme (UNDP) Capacity of the Parliament of Moldova”. has helped more than 50 countries build A modern and strong Parliament is stronger Parliaments. This assistance has an objective of the Republic of Moldo- included support to elections, constitu- va’s long-term and medium-term de- tional reform, building legislative-con- velopment frameworks: the Millenium stituency relations, participatory law Declaration, which Moldova co-signed drafting, strengthening legislatures’ in- with 190 other countries in 2000, on the ternal organization and training legisla- one hand; and the Economic Growth tors and staff. and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Parliaments play a fundamental role and the EU-Moldova Action Plan on the in establishing the rule of law, in super- other. As elected representatives, Mem- Bruno POUEZAT, vising government activities, in fostering bers of Parliament are key advocates for UN Resident Coordi- participatory and accountable govern- the changes required to meet these goals; nator, UNDP Resi- ance and in ensuring national compli- they are also accountable to the citizens dent Representative ance with international obligations. Yet, of Moldova for making good on these public opinion polls over the world often promises. report a lack of trust in national legisla- Transparency, participation and ac- tures; simply put, many people feel that countability are part of what the people their country is not governed by the will of Moldova expect from their Parliament. of the people. To help it become a more We hope that this newsletter will open the effective and trustworthy institution, in way for a better dialogue between Moldo- 2005, Moldova’s Parliament requested va’s Parliament and citizens. Congratula- UNDP’s support through a joint project tions on this first issue of this newsletter! The publishing of such a magazine is a analysis, then it is very unlikely that it will new idea in Moldova and everything that be understood by all people. is new is interesting. Such a magazine is At the same time, I admit that it is very necessary because there is shortage of in- difficult to have a clear conception of the formation when it comes to the activities magazine at the first stage. But one thing is of the Moldovan Parliament. obvious: the complicated aspects of legisla- However, the magazine should take tion should be presented in a simple form, into consideration who will be its readers. so that ordinary people can understand For instance, if the magazine publishes a them. If the Parliamentary Courier meets scientific article with a detailed political this task, then I wish it good luck! Arcadie BArbAROSIE, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy I welcome the launch of a new media which are important for society, should outlet. I would like to read in this magazine be examined. It is important that such an different points of view, as well as articles outlet posts various statistics, for instance, which would help me understand what is how many draft laws were adopted during happening in Parliament and why. It would a certain period and how many are to be be useful to present the opinions of various adopted. Parliamentary factions and parties which It would be also useful to monitor how have representatives in Parliament. many MPs attend the working sessions of At present, there are very few analytical Parliament. At the end of the day, society articles of such kind in the Moldovan me- must know how it can influence the activi- dia. It is necessary to explain why a certain ties of Parliament. And here, relations be- Yevgeniy GOLOSCEAPOV, problem or idea needs to be discussed at tween Parliament and non-governmental executive director of the highest level. The key problems, those organizations are very important. Amnesty International Moldova Parliamentary Courier no. 1 May 2006 INTERVIEW POLITICAL CONSENSUS SHOULD BE MAINTAINED IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY Interview given to Parliamentary Courier by Mr Marian Lupu, the chairman of the Moldovan Parliament How would you characterize Parliament’s activities in the first year? The Parliament of the 16th convocation has recently marked its first year of activities and I think that a significant part of this period can be described as “a time of establishing political consensus”. This means that we managed to reach a normal level of activity quite quickly and it is obvious that the key role was played by the political consensus reached by the Parliamentary factions on major priorities such as European integration and settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. Thus, maintaining a political consensus is indisputable for the current Parliament. If we refer to Parliament’s activities, they are quite intense, although I admit that sometimes the agenda of the plenary sessions was not very busy. But this should not be viewed as lack of desire to work or that deputies are not ready to examine some draft laws, because quantity is not always the best criteria for evaluation. The problem is rather related to state structures which, together with MPs, have the right to put forward legisla- tive initiatives. Thus, a characteristic feature of this Parliament is that state structures have been involved in the design of laws, a fact that ensures interaction between legislative and executive authori- ties. In my opinion, precisely this cooperation is the key ele- ment of state’s modernization in the context of Moldova’s bid for European integration. Mr Lupu, what are the most important laws which Parlia- ment could adopt before its summer vacation? There are many important draft laws and most of them fo- cus on Moldova’s commitments to the Council of Europe. These commitments are important because, once implemented, the Council of Europe may decide to suspend its monitoring of islative programme which is one of the fundamental ele- Moldova. For us, this would be a very important step in getting ments in the process of adjusting Moldovan law to Euro- recognition for Moldova’s democratic reforms. I am speaking pean standards. about reforming and improving the legal system, adopting a We have already nearly reached the need to “make for- new law on radio and TV broadcasting, bringing political party mal” this complicated process. legislation into line with European standards and continued re- This is not only the result of our commitments, such organisation of the Information and Security Service. as the Moldova-EU Action Plan, but also the result of our After they are examined in the first reading, these draft laws need to self-organize and self-control. Bringing legislation will be sent to the Council of Europe for expert assessment and, into line with European standards is precisely the founda- after CE recommendations, will be adopted in the final reading tion on which the European integration process is based. in July 2006 at the latest. This means adjusting to European legislative, economic In addition, Parliament will follow the 2005-2009 leg- and social models, which have already proved their cor- Parliamentary Courier no. 1 May 2006 INTERVIEW rectness and viability, to our realities and possibilities. Thus, based on our quite modest resources, the legislative programme allows establishing the key priorities in the process of improving Moldovan legislation, simultaneously with adjusting it to European stand- ards. Parliament has elaborated many new and transparent methods of ac- tivities. Why? When speaking about reasons, it should be said that transparency is characteristic to any European Parlia- ment and I think that Moldova should not be an exception. As regards, methods of working, I would like to mention that the ple- nary sessions of Parliament started to be broadcast live by the Moldova One public television shortly after the new Parliament was elected. By the way, Moldova is one of the few states which In the near future we plan to reno- its gist, in the fact that this coopera- does so. Of course, we would not like vate the hall where the plenary ses- tion helps the authorities to better un- that this practice confines only to an sions take place, as it has not been derstand citizens and their problems.