Press review: Venice Commission's opinion on the de-oligarchization law
Evidence from Marina Tauber's case at the Constitutional Court, deciding the fate of the Sor Party and the Venice Commission's opinion on the abandoned de-oligarchization law - are among the topics covered in the media. Details in the press review prepared by Alla Ceapai.
The Constitutional Court has completed its examination of evidence in the case of the Government's petition on the verification of the constitutionality of the Șor Party, and today the parties are due to present their final arguments, reports Free Europe summarising the proceedings. The article states that new evidence, including documents and video recordings from the criminal case on the illegal financing of the party, under which the party's vice-president Marina Tauber was deprived of parliamentary immunity, was attached and examined at the request of government representatives.
The IPN news agency reports that the Venice Commission welcomes the Moldovan authorities' decision to abandon the draft law on de-oligarchization and to focus on an action plan that includes sectoral analyses, legislative and institutional strengthening, increased reporting in a number of areas such as public property management, anti-money laundering and anti-monopoly measures, transparency on beneficiaries of property, efficiency of asset recovery in the context of already imposed international sanctions, better risk management in the banking and insurance sectors and improved transparency of political party financing.
Politik.md publishes the opinion of former Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase on the concept presented by the Presidency on the creation of a new specialised court on corruption cases, which would examine all cases from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and all challenges to the acts of the National Integrity Authority, including requests for confiscation of unjustified wealth. Tanase believes it is too early to discuss the creation of an anti-corruption court in Moldova because it risks being easily turned into a firing squad. We do not yet have a sufficient level of judicial independence and maturity of the political class to take such a risky step, explains Alexandru Tănase.
Newsmaker.md journalists discuss the chances of the PAS candidate in the battle for Chisinau mayor with experts Aurelia Peru and Angela Colațchi, who reject a possible victory for Lilian Carp in the autumn elections. Carp's advance would be "a tacit acceptance of Ion Ceban's second mandate", admits political scientist Aurelia Peru. PAS's main objective in this election is to get into the second round, says political scientist Angela Colațchi. Lilian Carp is so far the only right-wing candidate to have officially announced his participation in the elections. A potential competitor could be former Chisinau deputy mayor Victor Chironda, who has not yet confirmed his intention to run. For left-wing voters, the battle will be between current mayor Ion Ceban and the PSRM candidate, the article adds.
The portal mold-street.com contradicts estimates by the Farmers' Force Association that farmers' losses on first-growth crops will exceed 2 billion lei this agricultural season. The stated figure is not confirmed by statistical data and concrete calculations, the article says. It also states, with reference to a recent study, that farmers will, on the contrary, still be making profits in 2023 when cultivating agricultural crops, if they have impeccable technological discipline, correctly analyse the situation of their fields and take decisions based on economic arguments.
Open.md inserts the proposals of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms to the legislative initiative of President Maia Sandu on the creation of the National Center for Information Defense and Propaganda Fighting "Patriot". The experts argue that the project needs revisions and improvements in order to be promoted as a legislative initiative. They recommend, among other things, ensuring consistency with constitutional norms guaranteeing freedom of opinion and expression; reviewing the form of the Centre's legal organisation and its level of independence; delimiting the competences of policy development and implementation in this area and clearly establishing the reference values for the concepts used, as well as the criteria and standards of assessment, particularly with regard to disinformation and propaganda.
Energocom board member Alexandru Slusari anticipates that Gazprom could demand the collection of so-called historical debts, including those accumulated by the left bank of the Dniester. "Moldovagaz is defying national legislation and refusing to comply with the procedures for implementing the energy package III. In the coming months we should expect hostile actions from Gazprom, which is vehemently opposed to the continued de-monopolisation of the gas market and the independence of the gas transportation system from the supply system," Slusari explains, as quoted by agora.md. He admits that the Russian concern will try to impose a seizure on the Moldovan gas transportation system.
Corruption in social care directly affects citizens and undermines trust in state institutions, headlines Observatorul de Nord, referring to the criminal case against more than 30 doctors, nurses and medical staff in Rezina, most of whom were convicted for demanding money when issuing disability certificates. The article notes that this is the best-known case of corruption in the social welfare system, but authorities suggest it may not be the only one. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, in some municipalities the proportion of people with disability degrees without a term exceeds the average for the country and there are reasonable suspicions of unjustified awarding of disability degrees. The ministry says it is developing special control measures.
