Moldovan legilature launches process of drafting action plan on parliamentary opening

Chisinau, 12 September /MOLDPRES/ – The Parliament of Moldova launched the process of drafting the Action Plan on parliamentary opening today. At the event moderated by Deputy Speaker, Iurie Leanca, it was presented the concept of parliamentary opening to civil society, the parliament's communication and public relations department has reported.

According to Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, the document is to establish an Action Plan for the functioning of the Legislature in the spirit of the provisions of the Declaration on the opening of the parliament.

The Interim Chief of the Strategic Development Service of the Parliament of Moldova, in the presentation of the Action Plan concept, mentioned that a number of thematic working groups would be set up for its elaboration, including access to information, legislative opening, anticorruption, fiscal opening, natural resources, etc.

Action plans for parliamentary opening are to be approved for a two-year term. The document will have 4 basic components:

1. The access to parliamentary information;

2. The civil society participation in parliamentary processes;

3. The accountability of Parliament to citizens;

4. The technologies and innovations in parliamentary activity.

It will be consulted at all stages of drafting, as the Parliament committed itself to engaging civil society in decision-making and approved a number of regulations and laws that promote transparency and increased public involvement.

During the first round of consultations it was decided that the proposals of stakeholders interested in parliamentary activity to be collected within 3 – 4 weeks. Subsequently, they will be formulated in the form of commitments in the Action Plan, which is expected to be finalized and submitted to the Standing Bureau of the Legislature by the end of 2017.

The event was attended by representatives of the IDIS Viitorul, Institute for European Policies and Reforms, Expert-Grup, FHI360, Alliance of NGOs active in the field of Child and Family Social Protection, Partnership for Development, Centre for Corruption Analysis and Prevention. 

The process of drafting the Action Plan will be coordinated by the Secretariat of the Parliament with the support of UNDP Moldova and based on an extensive consultation and joint-doing process.

The Open Parliament is a global initiative under the umbrella of the Open Government Partnership and is coordinated by the Working Group on Parliamentary Opening. The work of the Working Group is based on the Declaration on Opening Parliament approved by the International Conference on Open Legislation held on 30 April – 02 May 2012 in Washington, USA, and has aimed at introducing and developing inclusive and transparent parliamentary processes, also disseminate best practices in the field.