Until now, the chief prosecutor of Gagauzia was appointed by the Prosecutor General, but only on the basis of a proposal by the People’s Assembly of the autonomy. Ion Munteanu considered that this procedure violates the principle of separation of powers and does not comply with the Basic Law of the country, so in January this year he appealed to the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court considered the Prosecutor General’s petition without the participation of representatives of the Gagauz authorities and satisfied his request. The decision is final and binding.
Fyodor Gagauz, a member of parliament from the Communist and Socialist Bloc and former head of the autonomy’s Department of Internal Affairs, noted for Logos Press that the appeal of the Moldovan Prosecutor General and the Constitutional Court’s decision demonstrate Chisinau’s desire to take control of all processes in the autonomous entity and limit its autonomy.
“The prosecutor’s office plays a key role in today’s realities and is used as a cudgel in the hands of politicians,” Fedor Gagauz said. – And the Moldovan authorities want to keep this cudgel in Gagauzia in their hands. The decision of the Constitutional Court violates the balance in the relations between Chisinau and Comrat, infringes on the rights of the autonomy and its status”.
The MP emphasized that the Gagauz authorities are also to blame for what happened, as they failed to react correctly and timely to the Moldovan Prosecutor General’s appeal to the Constitutional Court. “When this happened, I addressed the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia with a proposal to formulate a consolidated and reasoned position on this issue, to appeal to international structures for support. After all, we are talking about a clear infringement of Gagauzia’s interests and a systemic disregard of its autonomous status, which contradicts Moldova’s international obligations and discredits the country’s course towards EU integration. But the regional authorities of Gagauzia failed to mobilize all the resources to counteract the initiative of the Prosecutor General of Moldova, and the Constitutional Court considered the case without taking into account the opinion of the representatives of the autonomy”.
