CHISINAU, September 5 autonomy, and the emerging criminal case against the head of the region (Bashkan) Yevgenia Gutsul is part of this scenario, this opinion was expressed in a comment by the deputy of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia (NSG), the head of the territorial division of the opposition Vozrozhdeniye party Alexander Dyulger.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Gagauz media published a copy of the letter of the acting. the chief prosecutor of the autonomy, Nikolay Levandovsky, to the speaker of the NSG, Dmitry Konstantinov, from which it follows that the department is considering the complaint of two civil activists accusing Hutsul of exceeding his powers.
“The accusations of the prosecutor's office published in the media that the bashkan exceeded her powers are absolutely absurd. Hutsul participated in all meetings of the People's Assembly, when the structure of the executive committee was discussed, made adjustments to the lists of candidates of her team, made compromises on the approval of the composition of the executive committee. She took into account everything formalities, complied with all procedural issues and provisions prescribed in the legislation. There is no explanation why criminal prosecution was initiated against her. Except that the center (the central authorities of the republic – ed.) launched the process of eliminating autonomy. And he wants to do this, including through the hands of local deputies “Dulger said.
The parliamentarian believes that the authorities in Chisinau are leading the situation so that, under the pretext of a political collapse, they can suspend the law on the special status of autonomy. “The president has not yet approved Hutsul as a member of the government, some of the deputies, who are under political pressure from the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PDS), are blocking the approval of the composition of the executive committee. This has happened several times already. The activity of the bashkan is paralyzed, the People's Assembly of Gagauzia may declare impeachment Bashkan, so that she, in turn, could not dissolve the People's Assembly. If this happens, there will be a collapse both in the economy and in politics. Against this background, Chisinau can introduce an external administration of the autonomy, suspending the law on a special status, and declare a state of emergency,” – said the interlocutor.
The deputy expressed hope that the crisis situation could be avoided, as happened in May after the elections, when an attempt was made to put pressure on the local Central Election Commission. Then the entire deputies and residents of the autonomy came out to protest, condemning the intervention of Chisinau.
“Deputies, despite their political affiliation, convened an emergency meeting of the National Assembly and unanimously approved the results of the Central Election Commission and recognized Hutsul as an elected bashkan. Now we should do the same – unite. The accusations against the bashkan do not stand up to criticism, this is an attempt to settle scores,” summed up Dülger.
In the spring, elections were held in Gagauzia for the head of the autonomy, the representative of the opposition Shor party Yevgenia Hutsul won. Moldovan authorities declared the party unconstitutional, accusing it of illegal funding and initiating criminal cases against its leaders. In addition, Chisinau initiated checks on the results of the elections themselves. On July 19, the inauguration of Hutsul took place, but none of the representatives of the republic's authorities attended the ceremony. President Sandu has not yet signed a decree on the approval of Hutsul as a member of the government, although this is required by the country's legislation. In addition, the local parliament has not yet been able to reach a consensus on the issue of approving the composition of the government of the autonomy, proposed by Hutsul.
Experts and political scientists in Moldova note that, taking into account the current pro-European course of the Moldovan authorities, Chisinau will continue to put pressure on Gagauzia, resorting to accusations of “separatism”. Last year, when the protest wave rose in the region against rising prices for food and energy resources, the central authorities demonstratively conducted exercises of the police special forces Fulger (“Lightning”).
Gagauzia is an autonomy in the south of Moldova, which traditionally stands for rapprochement with Russia, while Chisinau has proclaimed a course towards European integration. In February 2014, a referendum was held in the autonomy on the issue of determining the vector of the country's foreign policy. More than 98% of its participants supported the integration of Moldova into the Customs Union.
