Parliamentary commission fails to approve BCC's performance report

The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) presented the performance report for 2009 to the parliamentary commission for culture, education, research, youth, sport and mass media for approval so that it could be then submitted to the Parliament. As the quorum was not present, the commission examined the report, but could not approve it, Info-Prim Neo reports. The commission's meeting started with an argument between the members. The unaffiliated MPs Victor Stepaniuc and Ludmila Belcencova left the assembly hall, arguing that the report cannot be examined when the quorum is absent as this is not according to the law. After reporting on the number of meetings held and the fines imposed on the broadcasters, the Council's chairman Gheorghe Gorincioi complained that the courts of law interfere in the work of the BCC. According to him, the courts often oblige the Council to modify its decisions. In this connection, the jurist-expert Eugeniu Rybka said the BCC must implement the court decisions and publish them on its official website so that they are debated publicly. Eugeniu Rybka's statements aroused dissatisfaction among the BCC members. They said that Eugeniu Rybka is also the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the the national public broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova and there was a conflict of interests. The head of the parliamentary commission Corina Fusu asked Gheorghe Gorincioi if the Council took into account the recommendations formulated in the monitoring reports compiled by the civil society. “We analyzed them, but we cannot discuss reports prepared by bodies that are not competent. Their methodology is not clear. We have our own methodology,” said Gheorghe Gorincioi. The executive director of the Electronic Press Association Ion Bunduchi, who is an expert in broadcasting, said the BCC's report shows that most of the penalties were imposed on local, small broadcasters, but the national ones commit much more serious irregularities. The report will be approved after all the members of the parliamentary commission for culture, education, research, youth, sport and mass media familiarize themselves with its content.