According to the proposed amendments to the Rules of Parliament, the agenda of each plenary session will include a “Voting Hour” on the drafts included therein. In addition, there will be a framework for debates on each issue. Only one representative from a faction will be able to speak on each draft – currently there is no such restriction.
The explanatory note to the draft amendments to the Rules of Procedure states that its goal is to improve the clarity of norms, strengthen the role of the Parliament in European integration, increase the efficiency of work by simplifying the procedures of the Secretariat, as well as to ensure quality lawmaking.
The proposed amendments have already been criticized by some current and former MPs.
“Setting the voting hour turns into a rigid instrument of control rather than an organizational mechanism. In the last convocation PAS had 63 deputies, now it has 55, and by this technique the party is adjusting the sessions to its internal party schedule rather than to the rules of Parliament. The plenary session is practically blocked until they gather their ranks, and the others turn out to be just a decoration”, says Adela Raleanu, PSRM deputy.
Vasile Costiuc, chairman of the Democrația Acasă faction, said in a live broadcast that the draft was elaborated by PAS. The DA’s social media page published screenshots of the draft, which has not yet been published on the parliament’s website. Costiuc believes that this draft law introduces censorship in the Moldovan Parliament.
“The matter is so serious that many citizens do not even realize what has happened. Parliament is turning into a branch of the presidential administration, into a voting machine,” Vasile Costiuc believes.
Olesya Stamate, a former MP and former chair of the Commission on Law, Appointments and Immunity, believes that the proposed “scheme” is a convenient one for PAS:
“The drafts are presented as before, but the voting is postponed to a fixed time when all the drafts are voted on in one package. This scheme is convenient for PAS, which no longer needs to ensure quorum throughout the meeting. It does not increase transparency or the quality of debate, but merely creates political comfort.”
Furthermore, regarding the proposal that only one representative of a faction should speak in the debates, Stamate emphasized that “limiting the right to speak is not a solution.”
“Yes, in some European countries, after the debates, the position of the faction is expressed by one speaker. But in Moldova, the risk is much higher: MPs with an opinion different from the party line will no longer be able to speak. In practice, the speaker will be chosen by the head of the faction, not through a transparent mechanism,” concluded Olesia Stamate.
It should be noted that the average duration of one plenary session of the Parliament is about seven hours. For example, in 2024, MPs gathered for 35 plenary sessions, the total duration of which amounted to more than 236 hours.
