About the local product, the fight with propaganda and ... "commitments contained in the Roadmap"

During July, the MPs voted  some bills from the broadcasting field in the first reading: nr.53, on the new Broadcasting Code; nr. 125 (LP), nr.218 (DP) and nr. 231 (Government) of updating and completion of the Code in force. Ultimately, only the bils nr.125 and nr. 218 are ready for the second reading. " We have some commitments on the Roadmap and we have a deadline July, 31, when we have to adopt these changes", explained the DP deputy, Sergiu Sirbu on a TV channel.
The media NGOs brought harsh criticism  during the public debates organized by the Parliament on Tuesday, July 26 that the bills on the Broadcasting Code are not examined in common for the second reading . According to them, changing the Code in force, the MPs will forget about the new bill of the Broadcasting Code.
Hereunder, we propose to you a retrospection of July month to see how the events related to the examination of the audiovisual legislation unholded chronologically.

July, 1
The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova votes the bill nr. 53 of the new Broadcasting Code in the first reading. In the  Report of the Parliamentary Committee for media the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee, Vladimir Hotineanu, specifies that the bill was examined within four public hearings; the Government's notice is favorable, the European Union of Radio and Television and OSCE approved the bill of the Code.
July, 7
The Parliament adopts three bills, nr.125 (LP), nr.218 (DP) and 231 (Government) in the first reading, which provide changed and additions to the Broadcasting Code in force. To Liliana Palihovici's question, the Parliament's vice-president, "Does it make sense to vote these changes in the Code which will be canceled in 2-3 weeks, when the new Broadcasting Code will come into force?". The speakers, Lilian Carp (LP) and Sergiu Sirbu (DP) answer that these two bills will become " amendments of the new Broadcasting Code". Vladimir Hotineanu, speaker from the Parliamentary Committee for media declares in plenary session: " The Committee debated the bill 218 and we propose it for approval in the first reading and merging with the bill 53 for the second reading".

July, 8
The Association of Russian journalists react roughly to the adoption in the first reading of the bills nr.125 and 218 by the Parliament. The members of the organization are concerned about the exclusion of informational and news programs from the broadcasters' grid which  retransmit the channels from the Russian Federation in the media space of the Republic of Moldova and "the substantial reduction of the volume of transmissions in the Russian language".

July,11
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation disseminates a press release where it declares that "the changes proposed for the Broadcasting Code have the aim of limiting the activity of the Russian press, considering that Russian is the language of interethnic communication in the Republic of Moldova". The notice of the MFARF considers this step "unfriendly" and warns that "Moscow will monitor carefully the evolution of this initiative".

July, 12
Governor of Gagauzia says in a statement that "the changes examined by the MPs have the aim of removing the Russian channels from the audiovisual field, as well as the elimination of the Russian language from the public sphere of Moldova". Irina Vlah warns Chisinau: " In case when the Parliamentary majority approves the legislative changes for the Broadcasting Code, the cable networks from the autonomy will continue to broadcast the Russian television channels and others in full volume".

July, 13
The Representative of OSCE for Freedom of Press, Dunja Mijatovic, addresses a message to the speaker of the Parliament, Andrian Candu, in which she draws attention to: "It is counterproductive to try to limit the discourse through an overly restrictive legislation". (...)
"I trust that the bills will be carefully reviewed by the members of the Parliament before being adopted in the second reading, ensuring that the regulations don't show unjustified limits on the freedom of expression and free flow of information" mentions Mijatovic.

July, 14
The vice-president of Freedom House, Robert Herman, reacts through a press release of the organization at the bills examined by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova: "Banning broadcasts or retransmission of foreign content through restrictive legislation will undermine the freedom of press. We ask the Moldovan Parliament to review these bills with a critical eye in the context when Moldova wants to align policies with the values and principles of the EU, including the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, in accordance with the Association Agreement".

July, 14
The authors of the bill nr.218 on the modification and completion of the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova organize public debates on this document. The event is announced a day before and has a bad turnout of media experts, MPs and civil society. The DP deputy, Sergiu Sirbu, declares at the beginning of the consultations that some people" distorted the sense and content of the bill" and public consultations are necessary " to dismantle myths, to discuss and accumulate recommendations". During the "consultations" the MPs Vlaimir Hotineanu and Sergiu Sirbu give ample pleas in favour of the bill nr.218.

July, 20
A press release is published on the Parliament's website which informs that " the proposals of updating the Broadcastig Code in force, as well as the bill of the new Code will be exposed to broad public debate on Tuesday, July, 26". The press release specifies that the event is organized at the initiative of the speaker Andrian Candu and will have the topic: "Propaganda and domestic product, the challenges from the media space of the Republic of Moldova".

July,25
The media experts, the representatives of the civil society and the journalists organize in reply to the debates announced by the Parliament, debates in the Discussion Club "STOP FALSE" on the topic: "Protection of the local informational space from the external and internal propaganda". During the discussions, they expressed their disagreement with the "mimicry" by the Parliament of "the participatory process of adoption of changes for the audiovisual legislation" and drew our attention on the fact that the bill nr.218 could be voted in the second reading till July,31, "but the bill of the new Code will be forgotten". " The cleaning of the media market is wanted in order to make room for other channels. All of these are done in the noble purpose of fighting with propaganda".

July,26
Public debates organized by the Parliament on the topic "The challenges of the media space of the Republic of Moldova, propaganda and the domestic product" take place. During these debates the president of the Parliamentary Committee for media, Vladimir Hotineanu, says trenchantly:" The Committee considers appropriate to cancel the vote of merging the bills nr.125 and nr.218 with the bill 53 in the subsequent meetings ", proposing the debate of those two bills in the second reading and their subsequent merging. Hotineanu brings arguments: "The bills 125 and 218 have the notices of the Council of Europe and OSCE. Some provisions from these  bills express fears and concerns which will be carefully examined. At the same time we mention that the bill of the new Broadcasting Code doesn't have these notices. Taking into account our external partners' proposals, the Code cannot be examined in the second reading without these notices".

July, 26
After more than four hours of public debates with the participation of national and international experts, the author of the bill nr. 218, the DP deputy, Sergiu Sirbu, declares for a TV channel: "We have some commitments on the Roadmap and we have a deadline July, 31 when we have to adopt these changes". At their turn, the media experts say that the debates initiated by the Parliament on the democrats' bill constitute a mimicry of the democratic process and it will only cause conditions of unfair competition on the media market from Moldova and will lead to the disappearance of someTV Channels from the media space.