The authorities in Gagauzia will not be able to decide on the composition of their own electoral commission, nor on the appointment of the head of police in the autonomous region. The Constitutional Court has admitted the notification of the Minister of Justice and declared several provisions of the legislation regarding the special status of the region as unconstitutional. Also, the Court rejected as inadmissible the notification submitted by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia.
The decision was pronounced on Thursday following the examination of two notifications regarding the constitutional control of some provisions from the Law on the special legal status of Gagauzia, the Law on police activity, and from the Electoral Code, reports IPN.
The Court has admitted the referral filed by the Minister of Justice, Vladislav Cojuhari, and declared unconstitutional the provisions of the Law on the special legal status of Gagauzia which granted the People’s Assembly the competence to approve the composition of the Central Electoral Commission of the autonomy. At the same time, several articles from the same law were annulled.
Also, the constitutional magistrates declared unconstitutional the provision from the Law on police activity which established that the head of the police in Gagauzia is appointed at the proposal of the governor and with the approval of the Popular Assembly. Several provisions from the Electoral Code that regulated the establishment of the “Central Electoral Council of Gagauzia” based on local legislation were also annulled.
At the same time, the Court declared inadmissible the referral submitted by the Popular Assembly of Gagauzia UTA, which requested the verification of the constitutionality of several provisions from the Electoral Code related to the “Central Electoral Council of Gagauzia”, as well as some provisions regarding electoral competitors.
The Constitutional Court announced that it has also issued an address to the Parliament, requesting the adjustment of legislation in accordance with the adopted decision. The decision is final, it cannot be contested, it comes into effect on the date of adoption and is to be published in the Official Gazette.
The President of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, Valentin Gaidarji, criticizes the decision of the Constitutional Court in which several provisions of the legislation regarding the special status of the region were declared unconstitutional. The official mentioned that such actions cause destabilization and called for the resignation of the President of the CC, Domnica Manole.
He argues that the decision limits the competences of Gagauzia and qualifies it as a “serious political intervention” in the rights of the region’s population. According to the local press, the Popular Assembly will initiate consultations with deputies and the population, in order to adopt response measures.