Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip regards as populist Moldovan President Igor Dodon’s initiative on holding a consultative referendum on a number of major issues.
“The initiative is impracticable and has no legal grounds. It counts only on people’s emotions and is directed at the further division of the public. It is a great pity that the president does not think of how to unite people but only pursues the selfish interests of his own party,” Filip told journalists on April 4.
He reminded them that taxation and budget issues cannot be put up for public vote.
“The issue of the abolition of the law on the procedure of returning money stolen from the banking system cannot be settled through a referendum. The law has had its legal effect. It cannot be abolished in any way. Moreover, the adoption of the law was one of the IMF conditions. If we had not passed the law and resolved the problem, we would have lost much more money,” Filip said.
He said it is equally impossible to hold a consultative referendum on two other issues – the assignment of additional powers to the president and the reduction of the number of deputies.
“These issues concern constitutional amendments. Only a constitutional referendum meeting requirements of law, not a consultative one, can be held on them,” the prime minister said.
He also called it impermissible to hold a referendum on the question of the study of history in schools.
“This is a very sensitive issue. We know that there are diametrically opposite opinions on issues such as language and history. The public is divided into approximately two parts on these matters. By asking such questions politicians split the public and further aggravate the complex situation. Responsible politicians should not be acting in this way,” Filip said.
Later commenting on Fillip’s remarks Dodon said: “The ruling party is afraid of the referendum, but it will be held anyway.”
“They [the parliamentary majority and government] see the results of polls and realize that in a referendum people will side with the president, that citizens will give him additional powers, that they will vote for the speedy dissolution of this anti-social parliament,” Dodon said.
“The prime minister will have to observe the law whether he wants it or not,” he said.
“The referendum will take place and we will find the money for it,” Dodon said.
Earlier reports said that last week Dodon initiated a consultative referendum on four issues: the abolition of the law on the procedure of returning 1 billion euro from the banking system, on the assigning of additional powers to the president to dissolve parliament and set the date of early parliamentary elections, on the reduction of the number of members of parliament from 101 to 71, and on the study of the subject “The history of Moldova” in educational institutions instead of “The history of Romanians.”
