MP Gaik Vartanean, together with mates from the National Alternative Movement Party (MAN), on Thursday made a request to the Constitutional Court to review the legal provisions on the social assistance reform “Restart”. The MAN representatives consider the amendments to the law are discriminatory against the citizens of Chisinau municipality and ATU Gagauzia, IPN reports.
Gaik Vartanean said that control is requested over the observance of the principle of non-discrimination of citizens following the adoption of such a bill that, in his opinion, evidently discriminates against the citizens of Chisinau municipality and those of ATU Gagauzia. The parliamentarian also referred to the Government’s announcement on the employment of social workers in May and the creation of a service under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.
“The Government created a problem and we pointed to this. And finally, it solved it. But this topic is used for political purposes. The people are used and the municipality is accused. We hope that in the future the Government and the authorities will have an equal attitude towards all the citizens, without making a difference between those who are from Chisinau, Gagauzia, Drochia, Balti, etc. All people are equal and have equal rights. We hope that the Constitutional Court will be on the side of equality of all citizens,” said Gaik Vartanean.
The head of the General Division of the Protection of Children’s Rights Tatiana Oboroc said that the amendments to the legal framework on social assistance and social services go against the constitutional principles and international documents to which Moldova is a party. The principle of equality and non-discrimination, the right to social protection, the rights of persons with disabilities, etc. were violated. “Through the “Retsart” reform, the legislator discriminated against social services in Chisinau municipality in relation to the social services in the country. We believe that all the beneficiaries of social services, both from the republic and from Chisinau municipality and ATU Gagauzia, are on an equal footing and should not be discriminated against,” stated Tatiana Oboroc.
Vladimir Bolocan, deputy head of the General Division for Medical and Social Assistance, said it is serious when the central authorities say there is no discrimination against people with special needs from Chisinau and Gagauzia. “This is what they wanted from the very beginning – to finance only a part of the country, and the other part, which is Chisinau and ATU Gagauzia, to be left to be funded from the budgets of the local authorities. We can obviously say that such policies are not only discriminatory, but favor separatism in Moldova – very dangerous things from social and political point of views,” stated Vladimir Bolocan.
Hundreds of personal assistants in Chisinau, especially of retirement age, were laid off, and those who remained had their wages halved after the municipal authorities announced that they no longer had money to pay them and would not hire new personal assistants who submitted applications. The City Hall accused the central authorities of not including Chisinau municipality in the social assistance reform “Restart” through which the Personal Assistance service from January 1, 2024 has been financed with state budget funds, while the personal assistants were transferred under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. The central authorities invoked, in turn, that Chisinau municipality and the administrative-territorial unit of Gagauzia have sufficient possibilities to finance the salaries of personal assistants from their own incomes, but also from special-purpose transfers from the state budget. Recently, the Ministry announced that all the personal assistants dismissed by the Chisinau City Hall will be employed by it within a new service in May. For March, these persons will be offered a lump sum of 5,000 lei.
