Civil society organizations consider the Speaker’s statement about the failed attempt to invest the Sturza Government owing to the lack of a quorum is unfounded. They request Parliament to repeatedly convene so as to pronounce on the government program and the list of candidates for minister proposed by candidate for premiership Ion Sturza, IPN reports, quoting an appeal signed by a number of SCOs.

The appeal says the MPs’ nonattendance of the sitting does not represent rejection of the Government’s program and a no-confidence vote given to the Cabinet. Under the Constitution, the government program and the list of candidate sfor Cabinet member are debated in a Parliament sitting. The MPs give a vote of confidence to the Government by a majority of votes. Under the Parliament’s regulations, the lawmakers are obliged to attend the sittings of Parliament and to put their names on the attendance roll. Thus, the vote can be given only after discussing the government program and the list of candidates in a deliberative meeting of Parliament.

The signatories call on the legislative body to hold a new special sitting so as to pronounce on Sturza’s program and team. They ask the head of state to initiate consultations to designate a new candidate for Prime Minister only after receiving the Parliament’s decision not to give a vote of confidence to the Sturza Government.

The appeal was signed by the NGO Council, the Association for Participatory Democracy, the Association “Promo-LEX”, the Small Business Association of Moldova, the Association of Women for Environment Protection and Sustainable Development, the Resource Center “Young and Free”, the Journalistic Investigations Center, the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”, the National Environmental Center, the Legal Resources Center of Moldova, the Institute for Public Policy, Transparency International Moldova, and the Platform for Gender Equality.

The list of signatures remains open.