Draft code of Moldovan MP's ethics, conduct discussed at international roundtable

Chisinau, 12 April /MOLDPRES/ - The draft code of Moldovan MP’s ethics and conduct was discussed at an international roundtable today. Attending the event were Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu, lawmakers, former and present MPs of European parliaments, representatives of development partners, experts, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.   

Andrian Candu said the parliament had an important role in fighting corruption, especially through legislative mechanisms. Candu noted that the counteraction of this scourge became impossible without upright lawmakers, who are to observe a string of norms of conduct.

“The code of ethics provides a good legal framework in fighting corruption. The document represents not only a set of rules of MPs’ behaviour at parliament sessions, but also rules concerning the avoidance of conflicts of interest, when and how presents, commitments and invitations should be refused, as well as the establishment of the office of ethics commissioner,” the parliament speaker said.  

Andrian Candu also said that the draft code of MP’s ethics and conduct was on the parliament’s agenda already. On 13 April, the draft is to be discussed at a meeting of the juridical commission for rules and immunities and be debated at a parliament meeting on the next day, in order to be passed in the first reading.  

Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Moldova Narine Sahakyan said the draft was part of reforms on approximation with the European Union’s standards and practices and offered mechanisms for strengthening democracy in Moldova.  

MP Tudor Deliu, one of the authors of the Code of Ethics, referred to the concept of the document, developed by a group of lawmakers, based on proposals received from the civil society. “Any inadequate conduct of an MP has repercussions on the entire group of lawmakers, and the fact that we represent thousands of citizens who gave us their votes in parliament imposes us to have a special conduct,” Tudor Deliu said.  

The head of the juridical commission for rules and immunities, Raisa Apolschi, voiced hope that the observance by the MPs of the provisions contained in the Code of Ethics would enhance the citizens’ confidence in parliament. Apolschi believes that the document will raise the lawmakers’ awareness and will cultivate both the critical spirit and the values of a transparent and democratic parliament.   

At the same time, more lawmakers, representatives of different parliamentary factions, referred to the need of a juridical regulation for the MP’s conduct, and came up with a string of proposals to the Code of Ethics and Conduct.

The participants in the event also discussed the experience of European states in the process of working out and implementing codes of ethics and conduct, as well as the activity of the ethics commissioner in parliament. Attending the debates were the head of the commission of mandates, ethics and contestations in the Latvian parliament, Vitālijs Orlovs, a representative of the bureau of the parliamentary commissioner of the British House of Commons, Heather Wood, a former MP of the Swedish parliament, Carl B. Hamilton, Former Director of the Office for Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy of the European Parliament Dirk Toornstra.     

The draft code of Moldovan MP’s and ethics and conduct, registered on 4 April 2016, proposes a string of rules and sanctions, as well as the establishment of the office of ethics commissioner. The document provides for the conduct of lawmakers at plenary meetings of the parliament, meetings of the standing commissions, within international relations and with the public. Also, the code regards the use of public money by parliamentarians, conflicts of interests, lobby activity and culture of parliamentary ethics.    

The roundtable was organised in cooperation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and with the support of the United Nations Development Programme, within a project titled, Improving Democracy in Moldova through Parliamentary and Electoral Support, implemented with the financial backing of Sweden.   

(Editor A. Raileanu)