On December 29, 2022, the Parliament adopted two laws providing for mutual consultations between the Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia during the law-making process. This achievement is a result of the ongoing dialogue process between the two legislative bodies within the Parliamentary Working Group on Gagauzia facilitated by CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation and funded by Sweden.
“This mutual consultation mechanism represents one more step for the inclusion of Gagauzia into the political life of the Republic of Moldova and further improvement of the relationship between Gagauzia and the central authorities”, stated Mr. Gheorghe Leichu.
“The consultations mechanism is designed to enhance the quality of the documents to be approved by the Parliament and also the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. These modifications lead to the improvement of the entire legislative process as well as cooperation between the central authorities and the Gagauzia Autonomy”, stated Mrs Larisa Voloh, Co-chair of the Parliamentary Working Group on Gagauzia from the Parliament.
Both draft laws were developed under the auspices of the dialogue platform and endorsed by the members of the Parliamentary Working Group on Gagauzia at a formal meeting held on October 25, 2022. According to the provisions of the laws, Parliament will consult with the legislative body of Gagauzia on all issues related to the status of the autonomy and its competencies during the law-making process. Similarly, Gagauzia has the ability to consult the central authorities on different issues related to proposed autonomy laws.
The permanent dialogue platform between the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia is composed of an equal number of legislators from Chisinau and Comrat, created in 2015. Informal meetings of the Working Group are facilitated by the CMI within the “Gagauzia Dialogue” project funded by Sweden. CMI provides good offices to the dialogue process supporting through expertise and capacities building while fostering cooperation between the central and Gagauz authorities. Since the launch of the platform, the Parliamentary Working Group has adopted about 60 joint decisions.
