Information Documents
SG/Inf(2011)16 final7 July2011
MOLDOVA
Stocktaking of co-operation with the Council of Europe
(April 2010-May 2011)
Report prepared by the Secretariat
Executive summaryIn the course of 2010, efforts were undertaken by the Moldovan authorities to find a solution to the political deadlock deriving from the failure by the Parliament to elect the President of the country. A constitutional referendum, held in September 2010, on the possible direct election of the President failed because of the low voter turnout. The early parliamentary elections, held in November 2010, resulted in the reconstitution of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) and its policy. At the time of the report, the political deadlock over the election of the President remains unresolved.
The direct involvement and continuous efforts by the Secretary General/Private Office and the Venice Commission to help facilitate a broad political solution to the current political deadlock, has been greatly appreciated by the Moldovan authorities. As part of these efforts, the Secretary General sent a delegation to Moldova, 16-19 May 2010, and paid a visit to Chisinau on 3 June last year. In addition, he dispatched a follow-up mission to Moldova, 16-18 March this year.
Throughout the reporting period, Moldova remained highly visible on the agenda of the Council of Europe, through a continued and intensified dialogue and co-operation with the authorities on ways to support the Government’s priorities, as well as through the implementation of the outstanding commitments. Major programmes of co-operation include the multidimensional CoE/EU JP Democracy Support Programme for Moldova; Confidence-Building Measures across the two sides of the river Nistru/Dniester and electoral assistance.
In general, Moldova seems to be on the right track to the completion of its remaining commitments towards the Council of Europe and the path of European integration. However, a number of important reforms need to be finalised.
The Council of Europe continues to uphold the promotion of constructive political dialogue. The future steps that the country will undertake to resolve its political stalemate will be a crucial test for the maturity of its democratic institutions. All the relevant institutions and stakeholders concerned should make full use of the assistance available under the Council of Europe’s expertise and advice.
Table of contents
I.INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………...3
II.POLITICAL CONTEXT…………………………………………………………….4
III.STATE OF PROGRESS IN CO-OPERATION BETWEEN MOLDOVA AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE……………………………………………………...6
(i)Democracy: national, regional and local levels…………………………………….6
a.Electoral assistance ………………………………………………………………….6
b.Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova………………………………….8
c.Local democracy……………………………………………………………………...9
(ii)Human rights………………………………………………………………………..10
a.Human rights protection at national level ………………………………………..10
b.Execution of judgments of the ECtHR with respect to Moldova ………………..11
c.Situation in the media field ………………………………………………………...11
d.National minorities …………………………………………………………………12
(iii)Judiciary and legal co-operation …………………………………………………..13
a.Judicial reform ……………………………………………………………………..13
b.Penitentiary system ……………………………………………………………...... 14
c.Prosecution system …………………………………………………………………15
(iv)Fight against corruption and organised crime……………………………………16
(v)Civil society …………………………………………………………………………17
IV.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………..17
V.Decisions……………………………………………………………………………..18
AppendixI.List of joint programmes involving Moldova …………………………….19
I.INTRODUCTION
1.At their 904th meeting on 17 November 2004, the Ministers’ Deputies:
“decided to ask the GR-EDS to make a regular assessment of co-operation with Moldova”.
The last report on the Secretariat stocktaking of co-operation (SG/Inf(2010)10Final) was released on 12 May 2010, following its earlier presentation at the GR-DEM on 20 April.
At their 1084th meeting on 5 May 2010, the Ministers’ Deputies:
- “welcomed the willingness of the Moldovan authorities to carry out a set of reforms, the intensification of co-operation between Moldova and the Council of Europe, as well as the joint efforts of the Council of Europe and the European Union in designing and implementing programmes of co-operation with Moldova in the fields of democracy, the rule of law and human rights;
- invited the Moldovan authorities to implement, as soon as possible, the last remaining accession commitments, in particular the transfer of responsibility of remand prisoners in pre-trial detention centres from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Justice;
- called on all political forces to do their utmost to address the political and institutional deadlock by engaging in a constructive dialogue, with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement, as soon as possible, regarding the revision of Article 78 of the Constitution (on the election of the President), in ongoing consultation with and taking into account the advice of the Venice Commission;
- reiterated the importance of ensuring that the future elections meet the highest democratic standards by addressing deficiencies which were identified during the 2009 elections; in this regard, they invited the Secretariat to prepare, in co-operation with the competent Moldovan authorities, detailed proposals for pre-electoral assistance and to submit them for consideration to their Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM);
-invited the GR-DEM to follow progress made in the implementation of the recommendations included in document SG/Inf(2010)10 and the above-mentioned decisions”.
2.A Secretariat stocktaking mission to Moldova, headed by the Director General of Democracy and Political Affairs, was carried out on 11-13 May 2011. The Secretariat delegation is grateful to the Moldovan authorities for having organised a substantial programme of meetings with high-level representatives of the executive, legislative and judicial powers (see Appendix 1). The newly-appointed Head of the Council of Europe Officein Chisinau and his staff provided precious help in organising meetings with civil society organisations and representatives from the international community in Chisinau, as well as the leader of the parliamentary opposition.
3.This report covers the period from April 2010 to May 2011[1]. This report is to be read in close connection with the previous one. Although most recommendations coincide with the ones contained in the previous report, efforts made by the Moldovan authorities to plan and to implement a number of reforms can be positively assessed. During the stocktaking visit in March 2010, the delegation witnessed a strong willingness to continue the process of reforms; over one year later, the delegation noted that, in spite of the political deadlock and the successive elections, reforms had indeed started to be programmed and implemented in a number of areas. Moreover, the delegation could appreciate concrete results already achieved in some fields (the most remarkable example being a broader media pluralism). It should also be kept in mind that the type of reforms under programming by the Moldovan Government demand a long time to be fully implemented; furthermore, their steady implementation was, in the course of the last year, challenged by the constantly evolving and uncertain political situation.
4.The delegation welcomed the continued keen interest of the Moldovan authorities to promote co-operation with the Council of Europe in a number of priority sectors. Through its co-operation and dialogue, the Council of Europe is assisting Moldova in its complex, ambitious and multidimensional reform process, the completion of which should help the country to honour its accession obligations to the Council of Europe.
II.POLITICAL CONTEXT
5.In the course of the last two years, Moldova was engaged in five highly important electoral events, starting with the parliamentary elections in April 2009, followed by two sets of early parliamentary elections (in July 2009 and November 2010), as a result of the failure by the legislative body to elect the President of the country; a constitutional referendum in September 2010 and, finally, local elections in June 2011. At the time of writing this report, uncertainty still remains over the outstanding issue of the election of the President of the Republic.
6.As a consequence of the second failure to elect the President of the Republic at the end of 2009, a number of efforts were undertaken in 2010 and 2011 in order to find a solution to the political deadlock[2]. Following mediation efforts carried out in May - June 2010 by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, an agreement was reached within the Alliance on the way forward to overcome the crisis, after it became clear that a broader compromise between the governing Alliance and the opposition PCRM was not possible. The agreement called for a referendum to amend Article 78 of the Constitution, thus allowing for the direct election of the President. However, the constitutional referendum, which was held on 5 September, could not be validated because of an insufficient voter turnout (30.29% instead of the required 33%).
7.On 29 September 2010, the then Acting President Ghimpu signed a decree on dissolving the Parliament and calling for parliamentary elections, in line with the provisions of the Moldovan Constitution. The early elections, which were held on 28 November 2010, resulted in four parties entering the Parliament and in the reconstitution of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), made up of three parties (the Liberal Democratic, the Democratic and the Liberal Parties, for a total of 59 MPs out of 101; again lacking the three-fifths majority to vote for the President).
8.The report by the Adhoc Committee of the Bureau of the PACE on the Observation of the early parliamentary elections in Moldova (28November 2010), issued on 24 January 2011, concluded that these elections “complied with most of the commitments made to the OSCE and the Council of Europe; they were conducted transparently and impartially, and the variety of candidates offered voters a genuine choice”.
9.In January 2011, Mr Filat formed a new Government[3], with political and programming continuity with the previous one (formed in September 2009), which re-confirmed the willingness to pursue an ambitious set of reforms and to further push for progress on European integration.
10.With regard to the outstanding election of the President, the Constitutional Court was seized two times on the matterin 2011. In this respect, on 8 February, the CC was requested to rule on the timeframe of presidential elections according to Article 90 of the Constitution, and its applicability when the post is held on an interim basis. The CC ruled that it falls within the competence of the Parliament to rule on the matter. On 6 April, the CC was requested by three MPs from the ruling Alliance to clarify the procedure of electing the President in case of repeated failures and after early elections, and whether the Parliament could develop, by means of an organic law, a mechanism for electing the President so as to allow not to dissolve the Parliament. On 19 April, the CC addressed the Venice Commission with a request for an amicus curiae opinion on the matter[4]. The Venice Commission adopted an opinion at its plenary session on 17-18 June 2011.
11.In June 2011, the political deadlock still remains unresolved. The major political actors continue to remain divided on possible solutions. The results of local elections of 5June 2011, coupled with those of some mayoral run-off on 19 June, will be an important test for the political landscape of the country.
12.In spite of the political difficulties, the Republic of Moldova has managed to step up reform efforts in a number of areas, in line with its European integration agenda. Negotiations on a future EU-Republic of Moldova Association Agreement, launched in January 2010, have been proceeding at a very good pace and overall progress was reported in the implementation of the EU-Republic of Moldova Action Plan[5].
13.However, it is essential that the political deadlock be resolved swiftly, in the interest of the country, so as not to hamper the reform impetus. The necessity to unblock the political stalemate has already been addressed by several organs of the Council of Europe[6].
14.Against this background, the Council of Europe, through its co-operation package and expertise, is committed to continuing its dialogue and co-operation with the Republic of Moldova in order to assist the country in fulfilling its outstanding commitments.
15.Priorities for co-operation between the Council of Europe and Moldova remain the following:
- Reform of the judiciary system and law enforcement structures;
- Implementation of the last remaining formal commitments, and in particular the transfer of responsibility for pre-trial detention centres from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages;
- Further improvement of the electoral legal framework, based on Venice Commission – OSCE/ODIHR opinions, far in advance of elections, and its implementation; paying attention to receiving a broad consensus for changes in the Election Code;
- Adoption of the Anti-Discrimination Law;
- Decentralisation/local autonomy and implementation;
- Continuation and possible expansion of the confidence-building measures (CBMs) across the two sides of the river Nistru/Dniester.
III.STATE OF PROGRESS IN CO-OPERATION BETWEEN MOLDOVA AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
16.In 2011, the CoE/EU Joint Programme “Democracy Support Programme in the Republic of Moldova” (DemSP) was the most important co-operation programme implemented by the Council of Europe in the country. In addition, Moldovahas benefited from the activities under three multilateral and four regional Joint Programmes (JPs). Another regional JP, focusing on the fight against ill-treatment and impunity, will start its implementation as of July 2011 (cf. Appendix II on page 20 for details on the JPs).
17.With regard to the implementation of the DemSP, this ambitious and multidimensional joint action began in the first part of 2010. It responds to the authorities’ needs to reform and streamline human rights protection mechanisms, strengthen political dialogue and develop a pluralist mass-media. It helps to apply European standards in the functioning of the judiciary system, the prosecution service, the police, the Ombudsman institution, the media and the Parliament. Overall, the JP’s contribution to the achievements of the objectives has been quite considerable, and the national stakeholders generally praise the quality of outputs.
18.As of March 2011, the Republic of Moldova is also benefiting from the regional CoE “Eastern Partnership Facility” funded by the EU. The programme, which will run over 30 months, aims at providing support to reform processes in the six partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus) and at bringing them closer to CoE and EU standards in core areas such as public administration and electoral standards, judicial reform, the fight against cybercrime and corruption, and the promotion of good governance.
19.A set of activities of confidence-building measures (CBMs) across the two sides of the River Nistru/Dniester in the fields of higher education, civil society and the media were implemented in the course of 2010 and will continue in 2011, with an expanded action.
(i)Democracy: national, regional and local levels
a.Electoral assistance
20.With regard to the legal framework, several changes were made to the Electoral Code since the last stocktaking report. While the Moldovan authorities requested the opinion of the Venice Commission on amendments drafted in March 2010, further amendments were adopted afterwards. As was noted by both the Council of Europe’s Secretary General and the President of the Venice Commission[7], “the later adoption of the amendments of the Electoral Code does not appear as an obstacle to the holding of free and fair elections”.
21.It is also important to note that the dialogue on electoral matters between the Central Electoral Commission(CEC), and the Moldovan authorities in general, and the Venice Commission, as well as other parts of the Council of Europe Secretariat, has remained intensive in the reporting period.
22.On 4 June 2010, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR issued a Joint Opinion on the draft working text amending the Election Code of Moldova[8].Its key recommendations related to the reduction of electoral thresholds[9];, the formation of electoral blocs and the lifting of the disqualification from election to parliament imposed on Moldovan citizens also holding the nationality of another country were taken into account by the later amendments to the Electoral Code. Another welcome development was the decision to facilitate the voting of Moldovan citizens residing abroad for the Constitutional Referendum of 5 September 2010, as well as the early elections in November, by opening additional polling stations abroad.
23.Some amendments to the Electoral Code were transmitted to Parliament after the publication of a Venice Commission’s Opinion on 4 June 2010. In particular, the amendment dealing with the review of the redistribution of votes and seats remained from those contestants which have not passed the threshold, triggered domestic criticism. In this respect, the PACE Ad hoc committee on the observation of the November elections, in its final report, underlined that, while “the choice of electoral system is a sovereign decision for each state”, “this choice must be made on the basis of public consultation and broad agreement among the main political parties”.[10]
24.In 2010, the Council of Europe implemented an Action Plan to support the referendum and early elections in Moldova (document DPA/Inf(2010)21 rev). The Action Plan focused on: assessing the accuracy of the voters’ lists; capacitybuilding of the electoral administration and media monitoring, support to the Co-ordinating Council of the Audiovisual (CCA) and trainingsessions for journalists. Furthermore, special attention was also provided to support the organisation and the monitoring of the referendum in polling stations abroad. A number of local NGOs were involved in the implementation of the Action Plan. The fifteen member observation delegation of the PACE, led by Mr Edigijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD), was the only European parliamentary organisation which observed the referendum[11].
25. The final report on the implementation of the Action Plan (DPA/Inf(2011)04) pointed to the necessity to continue electoral co-operation activities with a view to the forthcoming local elections and, more generally, over the longer term. Future electoral assistance should continue to focus on: the improvement of the electoral legislation (including the section concerning voter registration and its implementation); training the electoral administration, in a more structured manner; the capacitybuilding of the media to ensure a balanced coverage of the electoral campaigns; the promotion of civil society’s support of the electoral process and the enhancement of voters’ participation, including voters abroad. A Continuous Training Centre in electoral matters, which was legally setup in 2010, will also require consistent Council of Europe assistance.
26.On 31 March, the Parliament called local elections for 5 June 2011. These elections were observed by the Congress and the OSCE/ODIHR. In view of the upcoming elections, the Electoral Code was again amended close to elections, in April 2011. Some of the amendments were substantial ones, including the postponement of the launch of the centralised electronic voter register until 2015; therefore, as in previous elections, voters’ lists (VLs) have been prepared by local authorities on the basis of lists used during the November 2010 early parliamentary elections. Local authorities had to submit electronic copies of updated VLs to the CEC by 1 March.