18 July 2016
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The organization of so-called “public consultations" on the bill nr. 218 by the Parliamentary Committee for mass media on July, 14, to which added the statements from recent days of the bill's author, the deputy Sergiu Sirbu, as the bill signed by the DP deputies could be voted alone in the second reading, generated some criticism from the civil society.
In an interview for the radio station Free Europe, the director of Independent Journalism Centre, Nadine Gogu, said about these public consultations: "My impression is that it was a well-directed event. In fact, it was organized more for pretense because the representatives of the civil society, mass media institutions and international institutions were not present at this event. Everything was done in a hurry, the people weren't announced, many of them didn't know about this event. There were more of those who supported those provisions."
At his turn, Petru Macovei, director of the Association of Independent Press commented on the FB page of the Group of Independent Journalism Centre: "WHY to organize SEPARATE public consultations on a bill (the bill nr. 218 of updating the Broadcasting Code, initiated by DPM, Sergiu Sirbu, GMG and Media House, that with the domestic audiovisual product and presented by the propaganda machine of the party as initiative of protection of domestic broadcasting space) if it was decided in the Parliament on July, 7 2016 that this bill and two others of updating the Code (one of the liberals and the other of the Government), all the three approved in the first reading, WOULD MERGE with the new Broadcasting Code, adopted by the Parliament in first reading on July, 1 2016? A possible answer: Because eventually, only the bill nr. 218 of DPM will be adopted in the final version, but the bill of the new Broadcasting Code won't".
According to the site Newsmaker.md, Sergiu Sirbu declared to the journalist of NM that " he doesn't rule out that the bill nr. 218 can be adopted as a separate law in the second reading".
Media Today contacted Sergiu Sirbu to find out what the chances of the democrats' bill to be voted alone are when in the session from July, 7 the deputies voted to merge those three bills with the main bill, nr. 53 of the new Broadcasting Code.
In the opinion of the DP, it was voted to merge because they considered that they would succeed in adopting the new Broadcasting Code till July, 31 this year. "If they don't succeed, then the parliament can vote to separate the bill, it is not a problem. It' just a matter of technique, of procedure".
Sergiu Sirbu also said: " From the technical and legislative point of view we have two variants: we adopt the new Broadcasting Code with the merging of those bills and embedding of those rules in the new Broadcasting Code; this is the first variant. It is just more complicated. There are already hundreds of amendments and we will see if we manage. But this subject is a commitment on the roadmap of the Republic of Moldova, the deadline is July,31. If we don't succeed in finishing the Broadcasting Code till July, 31, we could do it in stages, first to vote the bills 218 and 125 in the second reading, but in autumn to return to the new Code". We don't know how it will be. We will see."
Media Today addressed the same question to the president of the Parliamentary Committee for mass media, Vladimir Hotineanu, who said:" We have three more Parliament sessions. I don't think that this will happen. I don't have this information. I know that we prepare the bill nr.53 with those three merged bills for the second reading. We work at this with our Committee. And I would like to succeed in having at last the Broadcasting Code this summer..".
We specify that on July, 1 this year the Parliament voted the bill of the new Broadcasting Code in the first reading. On July, 7 the same Parliament voted the other three bills 125 (LP), 218(DP) and 231 (Government) in the first reading which aim to make changes and completions of the Broadcasting Code in force. In this context, the vice-president of the Parliament Liliana Palihovici, asked herself:
"What is the logic to vote these changes in the Code which will be cancelled in two or three weeks, when the new Broadcasting Code will enter into force?" The authors' argument was that those three bills will become “amendments of the new Broadcasting Code".
In an interview for the radio station Free Europe, the director of Independent Journalism Centre, Nadine Gogu, said about these public consultations: "My impression is that it was a well-directed event. In fact, it was organized more for pretense because the representatives of the civil society, mass media institutions and international institutions were not present at this event. Everything was done in a hurry, the people weren't announced, many of them didn't know about this event. There were more of those who supported those provisions."
At his turn, Petru Macovei, director of the Association of Independent Press commented on the FB page of the Group of Independent Journalism Centre: "WHY to organize SEPARATE public consultations on a bill (the bill nr. 218 of updating the Broadcasting Code, initiated by DPM, Sergiu Sirbu, GMG and Media House, that with the domestic audiovisual product and presented by the propaganda machine of the party as initiative of protection of domestic broadcasting space) if it was decided in the Parliament on July, 7 2016 that this bill and two others of updating the Code (one of the liberals and the other of the Government), all the three approved in the first reading, WOULD MERGE with the new Broadcasting Code, adopted by the Parliament in first reading on July, 1 2016? A possible answer: Because eventually, only the bill nr. 218 of DPM will be adopted in the final version, but the bill of the new Broadcasting Code won't".
According to the site Newsmaker.md, Sergiu Sirbu declared to the journalist of NM that " he doesn't rule out that the bill nr. 218 can be adopted as a separate law in the second reading".
Media Today contacted Sergiu Sirbu to find out what the chances of the democrats' bill to be voted alone are when in the session from July, 7 the deputies voted to merge those three bills with the main bill, nr. 53 of the new Broadcasting Code.
In the opinion of the DP, it was voted to merge because they considered that they would succeed in adopting the new Broadcasting Code till July, 31 this year. "If they don't succeed, then the parliament can vote to separate the bill, it is not a problem. It' just a matter of technique, of procedure".
Sergiu Sirbu also said: " From the technical and legislative point of view we have two variants: we adopt the new Broadcasting Code with the merging of those bills and embedding of those rules in the new Broadcasting Code; this is the first variant. It is just more complicated. There are already hundreds of amendments and we will see if we manage. But this subject is a commitment on the roadmap of the Republic of Moldova, the deadline is July,31. If we don't succeed in finishing the Broadcasting Code till July, 31, we could do it in stages, first to vote the bills 218 and 125 in the second reading, but in autumn to return to the new Code". We don't know how it will be. We will see."
Media Today addressed the same question to the president of the Parliamentary Committee for mass media, Vladimir Hotineanu, who said:" We have three more Parliament sessions. I don't think that this will happen. I don't have this information. I know that we prepare the bill nr.53 with those three merged bills for the second reading. We work at this with our Committee. And I would like to succeed in having at last the Broadcasting Code this summer..".
We specify that on July, 1 this year the Parliament voted the bill of the new Broadcasting Code in the first reading. On July, 7 the same Parliament voted the other three bills 125 (LP), 218(DP) and 231 (Government) in the first reading which aim to make changes and completions of the Broadcasting Code in force. In this context, the vice-president of the Parliament Liliana Palihovici, asked herself:
"What is the logic to vote these changes in the Code which will be cancelled in two or three weeks, when the new Broadcasting Code will enter into force?" The authors' argument was that those three bills will become “amendments of the new Broadcasting Code".