By CHISINAU. Nov 25 (Interfax) – The Moldovan parliament has voted in favor of extending the state of emergency for another 30 days starting December 1.
The government’s proposal on extending the state of emergency was supported by 60 parliamentarians from the ruling Party of Action of Solidarity (PAS), an Interfax correspondent reported.
“We propose extending the nationwide state of emergency by 30 days starting December 1 due to persisting security threats over the situation in Ukraine, as well as the need to ensure the safety of energy supplies,” Interior Minister Adrian Efros said.
The opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists faction boycotted the parliamentary session. The opposition insisted on removing the state of emergency extension from the agenda, but the parliamentary majority objected to the proposal.
“We state that none of the proposals, even the most relevant ones, win the parliamentary majority’s support. Another extension of the state of emergency is a special story. It hasn’t served the declared purpose for a long time and is only used as a screen for tightening the screws […] We do not want to be part of another act of this endless play,” parliamentarian Constantin Staris said before the opposition left the session hall.
Leader of the opposition faction and deputy speaker Vlad Batrincea said, “The state of emergency shows that this administration has evolved into a dictatorship and can govern the country only using emergency tools. The commission that controls this regime surpassed the parliamentary mandate a long time ago. This commission has replaced the Central Elections Commission, the prosecution service, and the judicial branch. What they’re doing blatantly violates the constitution, legislative norms, and international standards. All those violations will be investigated as soon as the country gets rid of PAS.”
Moldova imposed a state of emergency on February 24, 2022 and has extended it ten times for 60 days and once for 45 days since then.
All parliamentary factions unanimously voted for imposing a state of emergency on February 24, 2022. After that, only the PAS faction has always voted in favor of extending the state of emergency, while the opposition is of the view there is no need for this measure. The Party of Socialists even contested the parliamentary majority’s decisions at the Constitutional Court, which turned down its motion.
