Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Speaker: Referendum to reform Constitution needs to take place before June 2010

Speaker and interim President Mihai Ghimpu spoke on Moldova's public television station today, announcing that authorities intend to amend 69 articles in the Constitution.

The commission for constitutional reform, which Mr. Ghimpu heads, made these proposals, which will have to be voted on by Parliament and put forth for a referendum.

Mr. Ghimpu noted that a referendum will have to take place by June 16, 2010, the date by which Parliament has to be dissolved. He added that authorities will consult with German and Romanian experts in order to draft a proper constitution.

Parliament has to be dismissed because legislators failed to elect a President after the Party of Communists refused to accept the Alliance's candidate.

It is not yet clear what articles in the Constitution will be changed. The most contentious ones have to do with the official language of the country and with military neutrality. According to the Constitution, the official language in the country is "Moldovan with a Latin script." Many people in the country, however, want the language to be called "Romanian" instead because even some Communists, who do not want this amendment to be changed, have admitted that Moldovan is virtually the same language as Romanian.

Moldova is also, according to the Constitution, militarily neutral, which does not allow it to join military blocs like NATO. The current Alliance for European Integration has been accused of seeking NATO integration by the Communists.

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