[eurostiri] Declaration ANTI federalization of the Republic of Moldova>>>

[oberliht]

Hello eurostiri,

Tuesday, September 10, 2002, 10:25:32 AM, you wrote:

e> declaratia mai poate fi semnata de catre acei care doresc acest lucru.

e> NP

e> http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?f=3&i=13303&t=10131

e> Declaration Against the Planned Federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova

e> We, the signers of this declaration, would like to express our 
e> disapproval toward the idea of the federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova. Some of our main arguments are related to public opinion and 
e> electoral results. A majority of the population of the areas under 
e> the control of the government of the Republic of Moldova would prefer 
e> a more centralized form of government than the proposed federation. 
e> In addition, federalization is against the program of the ruling 
e> Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, whose leader, President 
e> Vladimir Voronin, has recently endorsed the idea of federalization. 
e> Moreover, federalization would be unconstitutional. On issues such as 
e> the one discussed in this declaration, the constitution may only be 
e> revised through a referendum in which a majority of the registered 
e> voters of the Republic of Moldova would participate. Finally, we 
e> believe that the attempt to push through the federalization plan in 
e> the current context is likely to destabilize the situation, possibly 
e> to a level unprecedented in the history of post-Soviet Moldova.
e> The first argument against the federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova is the opposition of public opinion. The evidence that a 
e> large majority of the population of Moldova has been opposed to the 
e> transformation of Transnistria into a federal unit of Moldova since 
e> the Transnistrian conflict of 1992 comes from a large number of 
e> opinion polls. The first such poll was conducted in June and July 
e> 1992 within the part of the Republic of Moldova that was not under 
e> the control of the Transnistrian secessionist authorities by 
e> Professor William Crowther of the University of North Carolina at 
e> Greensboro, the author of the country study on Moldova in the 
e> prestigious series of country studies of the largest and most 
e> prestigious library in the world, the Library of Congress [Helen 
e> Fedor, Belarus and Moldova : Country Studies , (Washington, D.C. : 
e> Library of Congress, c1995)]. The survey was funded by the National 
e> Council for Soviet and East European Research, with the support of 
e> the Duke University Center for East West Trade, Communication and 
e> Investment. (For more details, see Professor Crowther's unpublished 
e> manuscript, "The Construction of Moldovan National Consciousness".) 
e> The survey was administered by the personnel of the Institutes of 
e> Ethnography and Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic 
e> of Moldova and by the National Institute of Sociology of Moldova. The 
e> results may be found in various published scholarly articles and 
e> manuscripts.
e> The data presented below comes from William Crowther, "Nationalism 
e> and Political Transformation in Moldova", in Donald L. Dyer (ed.), 
e> STUDIES IN MOLDOVAN: THE HISTORY, CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND CONTEMPORARY 
e> POLITICS OF THE PEOPLE OF MOLDOVA, (East European Monographs, 
e> Boulder, 1996). About 81.6% of all the ethnic Moldovans/Romanians 
e> (who represented 70.3% of the polling sample) desired the area to 
e> remain a part of the Republic of Moldova in comparison to 6.8% who 
e> desired the federalization of the country and 4.2% who favored 
e> Transnistrian independence. Among ethnic Ukrainians (12.2%), the 
e> figures were 46.0%, 27.9% and 10.6%, while among ethnic Russians 
e> (10.8%), the numbers were 45.6%, 30.8% and 8.3%. See 
e> Crowther, "Nationalism and Political Transformation", p. 40, 46 
e> (table), 49 as well as William Crowther, "Ethnic Politics and the 
e> Post-Communist Transition in Moldova", in Nationalities Papers, vol. 
e> 26, no. 1, March 1998, p. 161. The overwhelming majority of the 
e> inhabitants desired arrangements in which the Moldovan state would be 
e> more centralized than a federal state.
e> A very similar picture is provided by a more recent poll, conducted 
e> in late April 2000 by Vladimir Kolosov and Dmitriy Zayats with the 
e> collaboration of Luminita Drumea of Chisinau as well as N. G. 
e> Babilunga of Tiraspol. See the text of the article in Russian at 
e> http://www.ist.md/index.asp?doc=1_3&doctree=1_3_7_2_4 , at the 
e> website of the Institute of Social Technologies, partially in English 
e> at http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?f=3&i=10078&t=9868 and in 
e> Romanian at http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?f=3&i=10079&t=9868 . 
e> Only 7% of the population of the area controlled by the Moldovan 
e> authorities believed that Moldova and Transnistria should be joined 
e> together in a confederation and 11.9% desired that Moldova should 
e> become a federation of equal members. By contrast, 30.8% of the 
e> population believed that Transnistria should get a great deal of 
e> autonomy within Moldova, whereas 18.3%, including almost one-third of 
e> the ethnic Moldovans/Romanians, thought that Transnistria should form 
e> a number of regular counties within Moldova which should not benefit 
e> from any autonomy. The rest did not believe that the resolution of 
e> the Transnistrian conflict would be possible in the near future. 
e> Their lack of faith in the prospects for peace might be based on 
e> their realization that union on their terms (apparently almost always 
e> a preference for a unitary Republic of Moldova) would not be accepted 
e> by the other parties involved in the negotiations.
e> This latter scenario is suggested by another opinion poll conducted 
e> by the Institute of Social Technologies ( http://ist.ist.md/ ) 
e> between 10 and 12 November 2001 in the city of Chisinau, the capital 
e> of the Republic of Moldova (see http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?
e> f=3&i=10129&t=9868 and http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?
e> f=3&i=10130&t=9868 ). Even though the Moldovans represented only 
e> 55.07% of the population of the city, 48.25% of its inhabitants 
e> believed that Transnistria should be an administrative territorial 
e> unit within the Republic of Moldova, while 18.47% of the population 
e> believed that Transnistria should be an autonomous unit within the 
e> Republic of Moldova. By contrast, 17.80% of the population believed 
e> that Moldova and the Dniester Moldovan Republic/Transnistria should 
e> be "equal subjects of a unitary state (federation)" and only 2.83% of 
e> the population believed that the two entities should be sovereign, 
e> independent states. The other inhabitants thought that it would be 
e> difficult to provide an answer, did not know or did not respond.
e> President Voronin has recently endorsed the idea of the 
e> federalization of the Republic of Moldova, and has praised the 
e> preliminary federalization plan proposed by the OSCE Mission in 
e> Chisinau (see http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?f=3&i=10219&t=10219 as 
e> well as http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eurostiri/message/284 ). It is 
e> not legitimate to argue that the electoral victory of the Communist 
e> Party of the Republic of Moldova in February 2001 in some sense 
e> justifies the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. The current 
e> program of the above-mentioned party (see its Romanian-language 
e> version at 
e> http://www.parties.e-democracy.md/parties/pcrm/program and its 
e> English-language version at http://www.parties.e-
e> democracy.md/en/parties/pcrm/program ). With this program, the party 
e> obtained 50.07% of the valid votes during the above-mentioned 
e> elections, states that "The party supports sovereign, independent, 
e> one and indivisible State" (sic). [A better translation would have 
e> been "The party pleads for a sovereign, independent, unitary and 
e> indivisible state".]
e> The federalization of the country is not allowed by the constitution. 
e> Article 1, section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova 
e> states, "The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign, independent, unitary 
e> and indivisible state." See the text 
e> http://www.ifes.md/constitution/01/01.html in English and at 
e> http://www.ifes.md/ro/constitution/01/01.html in Romanian. 
e> Furthermore, article 10, section 1, states "The national unity of the 
e> Republic of Moldova constitutes the foundation of the State. The 
e> Republic of Moldova is the common and indivisible motherland of all 
e> her citizens." 
e> Any federalization plan may be implemented only after a revision of 
e> the constitution of the Republic of Moldova. Due to the importance of 
e> the issue, the federalization of the country may be achieved only 
e> through a referendum in which a majority of the registered voters 
e> participate. Article 142 states, "The provisions regarding the 
e> sovereignty, independence and unity of the state, as well as those 
e> regarding the permanent neutrality of the State may be revised only 
e> by referendum based on a majority vote of registered voting 
e> citizens." See the text in English at 
e> http://www.ifes.md/constitution/06/17.html" and in Romanian at 
e> http://www.ifes.md/ro/constitution/06/17.html . Keeping in mind the 
e> state of public opinion, a majority of the voters in the country 
e> would most probably reject the federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova.
e> Another argument against federalization is the fact that it would 
e> negatively impact stability in the country, including by increasing 
e> political conflict and by causing massive rallies against the plan. A 
e> number of political parties in the Republic of Moldova have indicated 
e> their opposition against the federalization plan. These include the 
e> parliamentary Christian Democratic People's Party, the Social Liberal 
e> Party, the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party of Moldova. 
e> These parties and their predecessors (the Liberal Party has been 
e> created through the merger of a number of parties) have obtained 
e> 22.50% of the votes in the parliamentary elections of 2001 (see 
e> http://www.ifes.md/elections/electionresults/2001parliamentary/ in 
e> English and 
e> http://www.ifes.md/ro/elections/electionresults/2001parliamentary/ in 
e> Romania). The preparations for the anti-federalization street 
e> protests have already started (see http://www.azi.md/news?ID=19883 in 
e> Romanian and http://www.azi.md/news?ID=19895 ). 
e> It is quite possible that, eventually, the protests against 
e> federalization would be the largest since the declaration of 
e> independence of the Republic of Moldova. We should not forget the 
e> massive demonstrations earlier this year provoked by other issues. At 
e> that time, the positions of the demonstrators were supported by a 
e> somewhat smaller proportion of the population and by a combination of 
e> political parties that had obtained a slightly lower number of votes 
e> in the same elections. Moreover, the opposition against 
e> federalization is more evenly spread throughout the population, in 
e> the sense that there is much more center-left and ethnic minority 
e> support for the demands of the potential protesters. Even more 
e> importantly, the level of support for the Communists has decreased 
e> according to opinion polls to 32.4% of the total population (see 
e> http://www.azi.md/news?ID=19648 in Romanian and 
e> http://www.azi.md/news?ID=19657 in English ). This figure is arguably 
e> lower than at any time since 2000, including than during the 
e> elections of 2001, when 33.4% of the registered voters cast their 
e> ballots for the party. Therefore, the pushing through of the 
e> federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize 
e> the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of 
e> post-Soviet Moldova. 
e> While we disagree with his position, we fully agree with President 
e> Voronin's statements in the above-mentioned declaration that this 
e> plan is unprecedented and that there is a significant level of 
e> criticism directed against the federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova. We also note that nothing in his declaration, or of anybody 
e> else's statement in favor of the proposal, in any way contradicts the 
e> facts documented in our declaration.
e> Therefore, if the constitution of the Republic of Moldova and its 
e> democratic procedures would be followed, the federalization of the 
e> country should not take place in the foreseeable future due to a 
e> number of reasons, including the ones listed above. We are aware of 
e> an official OSCE proposal for the federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova, which has recently appeared in the governmental 
e> newspaper "Moldova Suverana" on July 9, 2002. (See the full text at 
e> http://www.yam.ro/forum/read.php?f=3&i=9811&t=9811 in Romanian, as 
e> well as its summary at http://www.azi.md/news?ID=19806 in Romanian, 
e> and at http://www.azi.md/news?ID=19818 in English.) We are also not 
e> certain about the extent to which the final version would diverge 
e> from this text. Therefore, our criticism against the proposed 
e> federalization of the Republic of Moldova would also apply to amended 
e> versions of the same plan that do not change its basic nature. 
e> Therefore, we, the signers of this letter, would like to express our 
e> opposition against the idea of the federalization of the Republic of 
e> Moldova. Some of our main arguments are related to public opinion and 
e> electoral politics. A majority of the population of the areas under 
e> the control of the Republic of Moldova would prefer a more 
e> centralized form of government. Moreover, federalization is against 
e> the program of the ruling Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, 
e> regardless of the recent endorsement of the idea by its leader, 
e> President Vladimir Voronin. Other arguments deal with constitutional 
e> issues. Federalization would be unconstitutional. Moreover, the 
e> constitution may only be revised through a referendum in which a 
e> majority of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova would 
e> participate. Finally, we believe that the attempt to push through the 
e> federalization plan in the current context is likely to destabilize 
e> the situation, possibly to a level unprecedented in the history of 
e> post-Soviet Moldova.

e> Sincerely,

e> 1. Ionas Aurelian Rus, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of 
e> America, 08901-1411 (see http://polisci.rutgers.edu ), President of 
e> the European Studies Graduate Student Association (see 
e> http://crcees.rutgers.edu/conf2001/ and http://GSA/groups.html ), 
e> ionasrus at rci.rutgers.edu
e> 2. Oleg Brega, Chisinau, R.Moldova olegbrega at hotmail.com, 
e> www.eu.brega.org
e> 3. Burdujan Radu, Briceni,R.Moldova, bry at k.ro
e> 4. Septimiu Nechifor, Brasov, Romania, 
e> septimiu.nechifor at pse.siemens.ro
e> 5. Jardan Cristian, mun.Ungheni, R. Moldova, Cluj-Napoca, Roamania
e> 6. Ioan Nicolescu, Canada, Email: ioannicolescu at hotmail.com
e> 7. Liviu Cananau, Kitchener, Canada, E-mail:
e> lcananau at uwaterloo.ca
e> 8. Filip Antonio, London, UK
e> 9. Vitalie Braniste, Chisinau, E-mail: braniste at mic.md
e> 10. Anatol Caslaru, acaslaru at yahoo.com 
e> 11. Liviu Bîrcã. Chiºinãu, Republica Moldova, freelance at moldova.cc
e> 12. Iulian Stefan, München, Germany
e> 13. Tatiana Basarab, MA student in International Relations, 
e> University of Amsterdam, The
e> Netherlands
e> 14. Marin Eladi, Societatea de Tineret pentru Drepturile Omului si 
e> Integrare Europeana "Nicolae Titulescu", U.S.A.
e> 15. Cosmin Pacuraru - journalist, www.cosmin.braila.net , 
e> cosmin at braila.net
e> 16. Nicu Jechiu, Chisinau
e> 17. Rodica Vermeiuc, Chisinau, rody200302 at yahoo.com
e> 18. Lia A. Ciocan, Cluj/Chisinau, lia_ci at yahoo.com
e> 19. E. Ionita, Bucuresti/Chisinau
e> 20. A. Gribincea, Bucuresti, argribincea at yahoo.com
e> 21. D. Maties, Chisinau
e> 22. L. Badiceanu, Chisinau
e> 23. T. Dascaliuc, Cluj
e> 24. A. Jechiu, Cluj
e> 25. E. Gregorian, Chisinau
e> 26. Nicu Popescu, eurostiri at europe.com
e> 27. Emilia Rus, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A., emiliarus at yahoo.com
e> 28. Ioan Rus, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A., ioanrus1 at yahoo.com
e> 29. Smaranda CAZAN LIVESCU, English Language Professor, Founding 
e> President of the first Romanian-American Cultural Center, "Athenaeum" 
e> of Atlanta, Georgia, General Secretary of the World Romanian 
e> Counci/CMR, Director in the Board of Directors of the International
e> Women's Association, Director in the Board of Directors of the Dekalb 
e> International Cultures Center
e> 30. Lucian I. Livescu, Founding President of the First 
e> American-Romanian Trade and Business Chamber of Georgia and the South 
e> East, President of the American Romanian
e> Sister Cities Commission, Editor in Chief of "Romanian Times" - 
e> publication of the Romanian Cultural
e> Center since 1990
e> 31. Paul Diaconu, Doctor in Economics
e> 32. C G Matasa, Matasa at aol.com
e> 33. Dr. Carmen Sabau, 689 Banbury Way, Bolingbrook, IL 60440, 
e> Sabau70 at yahoo.com
e> 34. Professor Doctor Mircea Sabau, 689 Banbury Way, Bolingbrook, IL 
e> 60440, Sabau70 at yahoo.com
e> 35. Dacian Valentin, Pitesti, Romania, valiptesti at yahoo.com .
e> 36. Ion Ditoiu, Hazleton, Pa, USA, alen at hazleton.net


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