Prime Minister Pavel Filip's speech in parliament on motion of censure filed against government

Dear Mr. Parliament Speaker, ladies and gentlemen MPs, dear guests, 

This day starts with a victory for Moldova and the government I represent. I want to inform with happiness that Moldova has an agreement with the International Monetary Fund; this would mean that we reached a common agreement at the level of experts’ staff. I want to offer thanks to my colleagues, the head of the commission for economy, budget and finances, as well as to the parliament speaker. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Half a year after starting working, this government faces its first motion of censure. This motion is not a surprise; it was predicted by a string of simple motions on the activity of more colleagues ministers of the government I lead. I respect and will always respect the democratic rule of filing motions as a way of parliamentary control over the government. Yet, I have all arguments to combat this motion of censure and to describe it as a pure demagogical, confuse exercise from the ideological viewpoint and fully deprived of solutions from the practical point of view.   

For Moldova’s government, the discussion on the motion of censure is, yet, a good occasion to unveil, before the parliament and the country, the outcomes of six months of governance, the measures taken and the steps made in the fields of governmental responsibility. We have worked on this period and I will avail myself of this occasion to present our activity; I will do this by figures and concrete actions.   

All of us know that, six months ago, Moldova was in a difficult situation. We everybody experienced the 2015 year, and if we are frank, we admit that there was a serious risk for Moldova to plunge into chaos and anarchy. But a country cannot be governed from the street or from outside of the country. On the last moment, we avoided this deeply negative scenario and put Moldova on the right path. And we took over the country in such a state just from the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), signatories of the today’s motion, which had led the government during six months, and today, they even did not read what they signed, to see that, first of all, the defective way they led the government is incriminated in the motion’s text.        

I understand that stability makes serious troubles to the opposition, which does not have alternative ideas and solutions. The perspective for this government to carry through its mandate is very high, and this is given not only by our will, but also by the results we begin having and the long-term programmes we started to commit to along with the development partners, including IMF.    

It is not by accident that our priority No 1 was to ensure stability and peace in the country, ensure a climate in which we could work and get results for the citizens, to economically stabilize the country and reestablish its external reliability. What is the main subject of the motion? This is a desperate call to chaos, instability and snap elections. The opposition wants snap elections because:   

1. it started being afraid of the progress made by the government, especially after the success began to be recognized by the most important foreign partners of Moldova.   

2. given that, starting from the next autumn, the foreign financing might be unlocked, and this means economic revival of Moldova, a nightmare situation for those who wanted to bring our country to chaos, economic and social blockage.

3. given that we started the cleansing in the banking sector, a fact which hits big interests, including from outside the country, from regions where some of the opposition’s leaders are led. And here I have a very categorical message both for them and their masters: we will NOT stop; we go up to the end, to the full tightening of the security of this vital sector for the country, even if you will constantly file motions against us.    

These are just some of the reasons for which the opposition resorted to this desperate gesture to stop the government on its way. I have began with these specifications not by accident, as I understand that some of those who watch our debate have not possibility to read the motion we discuss now and I want them to understand, from the very beginning, that it is not about the actions of the government, but about the need of some parties to cease what started being made well and bring again the chaos and anarchy in Moldova. And this to be clear what we discuss from the very beginning. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

In continuation, I will unveil some general data, as well as concrete answers to aspects signaled in the motion.

One of our concerns was to economically rebalance the country. Just as all of you know, we have managed to avoid a budgetary collapse in the beginning of this year. According to data from the first quarter of 2016, the economic downturn was ceased, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 0.8 per cent against the first quarter of 2015. At the same time, the IMF’s forecast for Moldova shows a 0.5-per cent economic growth for this year. Beginning with the stabilization of the economy, we have managed not only to pay pensions and salaries as normal, but also to make increases. I ask the Socialist MPs to recall how they had prophesied that the pensions and salaries could no longer be paid in 2016. So, we have managed and we will manage in continuation. Maybe they saw no solutions at that time, as they do not see them now either.     

On the other hand, we committed, with all seriousness, to reestablish the relations with the development partners. To this end, we have taken measures of institutional and legislative modernization. I remind that, in last March, this government assumed before the European Union, along with the country’s parliament, a Roadmap with priority reforms for the months to come, which is presently fulfilled at 85-per cent level, and will be fully carried out till the end of this month. We stick to this Roadmap; these are not empty words, but deeds – laws adopted and strategies implemented. At the same time, we resumed the relations with the International Monetary Fund and I have an absolutely grounded certainty that we will sign an agreement with the Fund next autumn.    

This government constantly keeps in view on and will never abandon the aforementioned basic goals: concrete and substantive improvement of Moldovans’ economic situation and re-establishment of Moldova’s external reliability.  

Ladies and gentlemen, now I want to refer quite concretely to what this cabinet has done and also to turn down, on a reasonable basis, the charges brought by the opposition. I want the citizens to see how the things are in reality, as the truth is the best antidote against manipulations.   

For instance, the pensions have been indexed by about ten per cent starting from 1 April, the minimum salary in the real sector increased from 1,900 lei to 2,100 lei beginning with 1 May, the salaries in medicine grew by 20 per cent on average starting from 1 July and the wages in education will rise by 8.6 per cent as of 1 September.  

It is not good, dear MPs of the opposition, to describe such increase as miserable and mocking. Be sure that those who benefit from such increases appreciate them, even if everybody agree that the pensions and salaries are still low in the country. They were low during the time when Mr. Dodon was minister, and also when PLDM had ministers in charge of this sector. Our concern, however, is not just to increase them in continuation, as the economic situation allows this, but also to reform the system. A sound increase of pensions will not be possible without a reform of the pensions system, which you know well that you have always been postponing.     

At the same time, the government has been actively concerned with the social protection sector. From the first weeks of the mandate, I ordered measures and undertook actions with concrete and positive impact on the citizens’ purchasing power: cut in electric energy tariffs by over ten per cent, lowering the gas rates by 10.9 per cent, introduction of the social bread in the Franzeluta shops network, decrease of the prices for medication by 6-14 per cent or increase in the number of free of charge medical services covered with the mandatory health insurances fund.   

The government I lead understood exactly that the measures of improving the living standards are indispensable for the country’s stability and for mobilizing the social energies in the sense of the reforms we committed to carry out.  

I do not agree, dear signatories to the motion, with the thesis that the business environment has been burdened in the last six months. I think that, on the contrary, the pro-business measures taken by the government clearly show our wish to back it. I remind you that the establishment of the moratorium on state controls was taken namely to disburden the business environment from abuses by some civil servants. Ask the businessmen whether this measure has burdened them in one way or another?! I also inform you that we use the period of moratorium for the institutional reform of the control bodies, aiming to do mergers, transparentizings in work and removing doubled actions. I am sure that the result with which we are going to soon come up will be an important step forward in this field. And here I would like to say that the lawmakers of PLDM, when signing the motion, should have remembered the protection taxes collected by the Fiscal Body and Customs when they were managing them; where this money went and what a mockery this represented for the business environment.    

Also related to the business environment, I remind that we have cut the number of permissive documents by 25 per cent and we have ambition to cut another 25 per cent, we have launched implementation of a single desk for permissive acts, we abrogated 169 customs orders and we are set to quickly revise another 52 ones, we removed compulsoriness of the stamp for enterprises, extended the fiscal facilities for the companies from the IT industry, resumed the PARE 1+1 programme, we launched, along with the European Investment Bank, the project “Livada Moldovei” (Moldova’s Orchard)  worth 120 million euros, to back the horticultural sector of Moldova. These are concrete deeds, and the business environment positively reacted to the government’s measures.   

Ladies and gentlemen,

The opposition’s motion is an incomplete and distorted picture of the realities from Moldova. If to speak about the state of public money, which the motion’s authors describe as catastrophic, there are figures confirming the progress recorded. This is maybe sad news for the motion’s authors, but positive for Moldova’s citizens. The reality is that the collections managed by the State Fiscal Service and the ones administered by the Customs Service have increased by almost 1.4 billion lei since early 2016. Certainly, this result can be improved; therefore, we will further work to strengthen all macroeconomic indexes.   

There are positive solutions also in terms of collection of state social insurances budget revenues for 2016. According to the latest statistic data, the collections from this year are by about 11 per cent higher against the same period of the last year and presently amount to 8.36 billion lei, which account for 61.4 per cent of the scheduled collections. This means that we will have money to pay increased pensions and social allowances. And this makes me happy, as there are categories of people who need to be backed and protected by the state.    

These are the relevant figures; they do not lie and leave no room for interpretation. It is right that the performance of this government be judged in relation to the situation of the last year and the one from six months ago. Yet, it is not right, just as the motion’s authors say, to put the blame on the cabinet for systemic and chronic problems accumulated during time. You have everybody been here. No one from this hall can say that he/she lacked a bit of power to really do something for the people.  

Dear colleagues, I have seen that the situation in agriculture is criticized in the motion, among other things. It is nevertheless good that they have not gone in details at least here, as the opposition would have fully made itself ridiculous. I should recognize that, when I took over the governance, the situation in agriculture, in general and the one in the farmers’ subsidization fund, in particular, was really dramatic. I mean, first of all, the debt of 489 million lei for the arrears in payment of subsidies for 2014 and 2015. Therefore, I experience a feeling of discomfort for the PLDM colleagues who signed the motion’s text; they know very well that these arrears are, to a great extent, within the responsibility of their party. And this notwithstanding, despite the difficult situation, we have managed to make all payments for 2014 and 2015, which fit the subsidization fund. At present, only the applications on subsidization for 2015, which did not fit the subsidization fund, have remained unpaid. This is the reality. 

Besides the actions for unlocking the payments for subsidies in agriculture, we have managed to adopt also other measures, through which we directly backed the agricultural producer of Moldova. I mean projects on financing of the type “Livada Moldovei” (Moldova’s Orchard) “Agricultura Competitiva (Competitive Agriculture), Programme on Reorganization of the Wine and Vine Sector, as well as a string of facilities, such as possibility to directly import diesel for agricultural works or farmers’ access to water for irrigation, which was possible after we had approved the regulation-type on exploitation of reservoirs and lakes. Namely such measures allowed the volume of agricultural production increase by about four per cent this year against the same period of the last year.     

Obviously, we will not stop here. The government’s stance will further remain to support the domestic producers and processers, and to back this statement, I remind you just a single measure which we adopted last spring and which regarded the introduction of customs duties on the import in fowl and some dairy products from Ukraine. This is an example of measure, by which we supported the 6,000 employees of the agricultural sector and another 15,000 employees of the milk processing field.   

And if to sum up the agriculture sector into a single set of data for the colleagues from the opposition, I would say the following: the 2016 draft budget provides for an agriculture subsidization fund worth 900 million lei, against 610 million lei in the budget for 2015. I.e., an increase by almost 50 per cent, dear colleagues. 

In this context, it is true that there was a delay in terms of the law on the state budget for 2016. Yet, I inform you that the situation from last January was complicated and we have used these last months for discussions with foreign partners to carry out the best budgetary formula. We will soon fulfill this task as well; we will have an approved budget for 2016. Yet, please, do not forget just for   a single moment the role played just by you, the authors of the motion, in creating chaos in the country in the beginning of this year.   

Ladies and gentlemen, the text of the motion speak about the captive state. What the motion’s authors do not explain is how it happens that, in the so-called captive state, the most important and courageous reforms in the last years are taking place now, reforms the goal of which is to strengthen the democratic institutions and mechanisms. I mean also the law on Prosecution, which will bring more independence and force to this institution in fighting corruption, and the mechanism of appointing judges at the Supreme Court of Justice, as well as the package of laws on integrity, which will lead to a better control over the wealth of the people holding public offices. These are things assumed in the Roadmap for the priority reforms’ agenda, which has been fulfilled at the level of almost 80 per cent. But you, those from the opposition, like only the strong epithets, not also the concrete figures or laws passed. And here I would ask the new political partners of the Socialists, the PLDM MPs: why havent’s you been so vocal on the topic of captive state ahead of being caught with thefts from Banca de Economii (BEM), Customs, Fiscal Service and so on and so forth? Or you forgot that the BEM disaster started exactly when this bank was directly managed by PLDM people, beginning with the institutions and ending with the Administrative Board? At that time, the state was not captive, as the money was coming to the party and you were feeling well? Or you think that if you hid behind the Socialists, you cannot be seen any longer? Do you want me to tell you about how you held captive the agriculture and financed only your party fellows, or the health sector, where the air from hospitals got to bring money to PLDM firms? Shall I speak you about the fraudulent way you managed the money coming from foreign assistance? Do you want me to still speak you about captivity?  About what we discover now at the Interior Ministry with several projects you have launched with great populism, and now we discover that there were undescribable thefts from the system on monitoring the traffic up to more complex projects. The ones having the right to do this should give their opinions on all this; yet, strictly politically speaking, you should be ashamed to speak about the captive state.     

As for PSRM (Party of Socialists), the things are simpler and clearer in terms of captivity; this party is captive in a single place and quite transparently.   

Ladies and gentlemen,  

I categorically reject the way the opposition presents our relations with the development partners and our steps for regaining the external reliability of Moldova. I would like to make quite clear than neither this government nor  Moldova begs money from anybody. We have concrete economic and financial goals, and these objectives are useful for Moldova and will be achieved. Only for demagogy or ignorance, someone might oppose our efforts to sign an Agreement with the International Monetary Fund. We have had already an evaluation mission, we have a negotiation mission and have a staff level agreement now. Moldova will benefit from this agreement, through getting the first installment of the loan promised by Romania, through unlocking of financing from the European Union and through the opening of the way to the signing of the Moldova – IMF agreement next autumn. We want normality – a normality which is good for the country, but seems not to be good for the opposition.   

I would like to also signal here the fact the goal of the motion seems to be to gather as many as possible charges, no matter whether some of them run counter the ideology and values of the MPs who signed this motion. I wonder and I ask also the Socialists signatories of this motion why they describe as wrong the introduction of a tax on wealth? I am sure that most of your voters do not share your stance, dear Socialists. I also wonder and ask the PLDM signatories to the motion why they demand ceasing the privatizations, which is in the ideological essence of a right-wing party. I inform you that it is about a needed process, which is now absolutely transparent, as it is made through the Stock Exchange. Both a part of the Socialists and some of the Liberal Democrats once quite agreed with the fact that the process of privatization was necessary, some of them even benefited from it, as the issue of its transparency did not concern you at that time, as you had other interests. I expect from the opposition concrete and constructive solutions, in order to make this process as transparent and efficient as possible, not epithets, as contained in this motion.   

Dear audience, one of the things on which we have worked and work in continuation is the strengthening of the banking system, in parallel with the recovery of the sums which disappeared in 2010-2014. I fully reject the manipulation, by which the problems triggered by the billion theft are put on the blame of this government, directly or indirectly. You know the legislation passed by the parliament this year on consolidation of independence, powers of supervision, decision-taking and implementation capacities of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) and the National Financial Market Commission. You know the development by BNM, in consultation with IMF and World Bank, of the strategy on removing vulnerabilities from the banking sector. I remind you also that the government last month approved, under the decision No 803 from 28 June 2016, a draft law on amendment and completion of legislative acts, which encompass amendments and completions to the law on financial institutions and law on state registration of legal entities and private entrepreneurs. This means strengthening the legal framework on transparency and quality of the bank shareholders, corporate governance, risks management, improving the quality of external audit in banks, optimizing the process of banks’ liquidation. This government concretely contributes to the creation of all conditions for that theft to never repeat in Moldova.      

I also inform you that the government kept its promise to post the sums recovered from the banks fraud. The information exists on the webpage of the Finance Ministry and is monthly updated. Over 500 million lei has been recovered till present, and at the expense of taking over the assets and security from the three banks under liquidation, we plan to recover another 1.5 billion lei, i.e. thrice more. The reimbursement of the emergency loan also means over 700 million lei, and inquiry bodies levied distraint on assets, properties, vehicles and banking accounts estimated at over 200 million lei.      

But when it comes to BEM and the fraud at this bank, I cannot but ascertain the cynicism of this motion, signed including by some of the lawmakers who patronized directly or indirectly the fraud at this bank. Also, in case of PLDM, I think that they did not notice that there is such a text in the motion; otherwise, they would not have signed it. You would better help inquiry bodies find the money, oblige your colleagues who directly were in charge of BEM’s management to go to inquiry bodies and say where the money is; the citizens would be much more grateful to you for this than for the signatures on demagogical motions.     

Ladies and gentlemen, the task of a government is eventually a very clear one – to ensure stability and as much as possible well-being for people. We have set to achieve namely this thing in the government’s action programme and we do namely this at the government day by day. This government just does, not simulates the doing. Probably this fact started bothering the opposition, as the fact that we have social stability and there are ever more hopes that the things can be stable in Moldova on long term began to bother the opposition.    

I could continue for more time to unveil the outcomes and further objectives of the government. Yet, I know that you have invited the cabinet members here not for this, it comes from the text of the motion quite clearly; the reason is simply to try to dismiss the government, in order to create a new political crisis, an environment in which you probably feel comfortable and full of chances. Therefore, I suggest that we stop here with the presentation; I am ready to answer questions and I hope that the debate will be constructive and useful for the citizens who watch it. I look forward to hearing what solutions you propose and even to implementing them if they are good.     

In the end, I would like to thank the parliament speaker, colleagues MPs of the majority coalition for the very good support provided to the government on these months, leaders of the parties and groups of the majority coalition who, at different phases, backed the drafts we had submitted to parliament. In these six months, we have showed how a constructive partnership between two vital institutions of the state, government and parliament, should be. I also thank the development partners and representatives of the diplomatic missions for the very important support provided to Moldova’s government.     

The government is determined to go forward on the way of stability and modernization. We want to carry out mission through, i.e. to govern Moldova and to govern it well till the end of the mandate, i.e. till the parliamentary elections due in late 2018. Therefore, I ask the parliament to give green light for the work of this government to continue. Our efforts in favour of Moldova should continue. We ask you to turn down the motion and maintain Moldova on the way of stability and progress. 

(Editor L. Alcaza)