PACE regulation likely to be amended

Chisinau, 17 October /MOLDPRES/- The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) could change its regulations following disagreements with the Russian Federation. Deputy Speaker Valeriu Ghiletchi made the statement today.

According to Ghileţchi, there were several issues on the agenda of the session, including amending the regulation of PACE.

Ghileţchi also referred to the internal parliamentary agenda, and noted as priority the initiatives to amend the Constitution by setting the term European integration and Article 13 on changing the name of the state language.

“The current legislature has a historical chance to make these changes and it would be regrettable not to vote for the developmental vector into the Constitution, having a constitutional consensus on the matter,” he said.

On 12 October, the MPs examined a draft law amending the Constitution of Moldova by setting the term European integration, but decided to postpone the vote at next meeting.

The initiative to amend the Constitution belongs to a group of lawmakers from the parliamentary coalition. The draft was worked out by a working group, which involved experts, representatives of the academic community and public authorities.

Under the legislation, the votes of at least 2/3 of the total number of MPs are required to amend the Constitution.

(Reporter A. Zara, editor A. Răileanu)