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The National Participation Council (NPC) - an advisory committee to the government composed of NGO specialists - filed a lawsuit against the Moldovan government for failing to adhere to the principle of transparency in its decision-making process.
The reason was the premature passing of the draft Law on the state budget for 2014 by the Cabinet of Ministers - they did so the day after the draft budget was published, leaving insufficient time for public debate. Subsequently, the NCP filed a lawsuit because the bill was not published within the time-frame stipulated by law.
“Legislative process is open to the press and public opinion in democratic countries. If government’s actions and the budget allocation method should be verified by anyone, and laws, rules and decisions are open to discussion, then they should be transparent so that authorities have less opportunity to act illegally and ensure their own interests,” the NPC members stated.
The Council highlighted that the Budget Law is one of the main laws that affect the lives of all citizens. The NPC demanded the government to provide immediate access to the full text of the bill and to organize public consultations on its content.
UPDATE
NPC members organized a press conference on Wednesday morning further discussing this lawsuit.
Arcadie Barbarosie, one of the NPC members, said it was not the first time government leaders broke the laws on transparency. He referred to government decisions to concession Chisinau International Airport, as well as those regarding the Bank of Economies - all of them controversial and orchestrated without public debate.
Following the press conference, government members organized a session for ministers, who quickly adopted the draft Budget Law and gave it authorisation to be implemented.
