Shor Party Ruled Unconstitutional

Weekly Roundup Part 1: June 21, 2023

Author’s Note: We’re catching up with Weekly Roundups after taking a break while I was on vacation. Thank you to the paid subscribers who participated in last week’s Ask Me Anything Q&A! There were a number of great questions about the EPC summit and Moldova’s EU and NATO relations going forward (among others). If you value the information you get in Moldova Matters consider subscribing!

We’re splitting this “Weekly” Roundup into 2 parts in order to catch up. This article is a roundup of the big stories, mostly from the last few days, driving the news in Moldova. It will be followed by another article which will dive into a number of smaller but important political and economic stories. Look for that update later this week.

Constitutional Court Rules Shor Party Unconstitutional

On Monday June 19th the Constitutional Court CC ruled the Shor Party unconstitutional citing Article 41 of the Constitution which states:

“Parties and other socio-political organizations whose goals or activities are directed against political pluralism, the principles of the rule of law, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, are unconstitutional.”

The decision is final and not subject to appeal. Explaining the impact of the decision the President of the Constitutional Court stated:

“Not a single document of this party, adopted after the decision was made, has legal force. The Ministry of Justice should form a commission to liquidate the Shor party and remove it from the state register of legal entities,”

Members of Parliament of the Shor Party as well as local elected officials will retain their seats as independent deputies. They are required to stay independent and are prohibited from joining other political factions. The party lists are now null and void so if any member of parliament from the Shor faction should leave parliament (either due to resignation or expulsion) then the seat will remain vacant until the next general election.

Explaining the reasoning for the decision the CC focused on the party’s long and well documented history of illegal financing, especially from external sources, and the fact that the party has completely ignored warnings and sanctions leveled against it. The judges went on to say that…

…these actions denote that the internal order of the party does not correspond to democratic principles. From this situation it follows that once in power, this party will apply the principles it applied within its structure and in the state structure, making the state's will no longer be formed as a result of the free play of political forces, but as following the manifestation of an authoritarian system. 

…considering the history and consistency of the violations committed by the "Şor" Political Party, recorded in particular in irrevocable court decisions and other acts of the authorities, the Court came to the conclusion that the Political Party "Şor" campaigns against the principles of the rule of law, sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova. For these reasons, the Court declared the "Şor" Political Party unconstitutional…

Photo source TV8

Public Reactions to the Ruling

Reactions from across the political spectrum came quickly to what is a historic decision. This is the first time in Moldova’s history that a political party has been outlawed and disbanded. PAS leaders called the ruling a “victory for the rule of law” while opposition parties called it a “dangerous precedent.”

In a statement following the decision President Sandu said:

“This is a decision that society has been waiting for precisely because Moldovans value and want to live in a democratic, rule-of-law state, where criminal organizations do not protect, but deprive them of the opportunity to seize the country. A political party founded on corruption and for the sake of corruption is dangerous for the constitutional order and the security of the state. ...,”

Prime Minister Recean similarly praised the decision saying:

“Today, the Shor party was declared unconstitutional. This decision of the Constitutional Court confirms that the Shor party has repeatedly violated the laws. It enjoyed the financial support of the secret services of another country and wanted to destabilize the situation in Moldova in order to move away from the pro-European course,”

The Socialist Party called this a dangerous precedent saying:

“Today's precedent with the ban on the Shor party can be applied to any other political force, and first of all to the PAS party, which usurps power in the country. There is no doubt that this particular party will become a victim of its own precedent,”

The Shor Party say that they will appeal to the European Court on Human Rights and say that they will continue to be active and run candidates in politics.

Analysis: What does this Mean?

At first glance the outcome of this ruling is quite clear - the Shor Party ceased to exist as of Monday morning as a legal entity. The exact mechanism for the dissolution of the party will need to be worked out by the Ministry of Justice and account for the party’s property, liabilities and any other technical concerns that arise when a legal entity suddenly ceases to exist.

Politically experts mostly agree that this move has a primarily symbolic impact. Most believe that members of the now defunct Shor Party will likely gravitate towards the “Renaissance Party.” Recall, the Renaissance Party has 2 members of parliament in the persons of the 2 socialist deputies that were “enticed” to leave their party and join Shor’s “Movement for the People.” Most likely Shor will consolidate his supporters in this new entity and continue business as usual. At the same time the sheer logistical and administrative mess involved in this transition is likely to impair the party’s ability to operate and organize somewhat.

Reacting to the decision, Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin noted that her office’s case against the Shor Party and their local leader Marina Tauber has wrapped up and headed to court. She noted that prosecutors had shared information from their investigation with the CC. The cases moving to court had the potential to see the dissolution of the Shor Party as a result of criminal convictions against the party organization and its members - the CC just moved faster and from a different angle. Dragalin noted that these cases continue to move forward, in particular the case on illegal financing of over $10 million USD in which Marina Tauber faces a potential 7 years in prison.

In conclusion the banning of the party itself will likely have a mixed impact. But combined with the ongoing court cases against key party figures it can be seen as one step towards disassembling what the courts have now called a “criminal enterprise” with more steps to come.

Anti-Corruption Reforms and Recriminations

In parallel with the existing court cases against oligarchs and the moves by the Constitutional Court new initiatives at structural reform of the anti-corruption agencies are taking shape. This week the Presidency presented their concept for a new anti-corruption court. The concept document calls for a new court that will handle all complaints from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the National Integrity Authority ANI. The court will have up to 15 judges selected from other courts by the Supreme Council of Magistracy on a competitive application basis. These judges will be appointed by the President and will serve 5 year terms during which they will be compensated at a level close to judges serving on the Supreme Court of Justice (around 45,000 lei / month). Clerks and assistants will also have higher salaries than in the rest of the judicial system. This concept is now going to initial public consultations before being formed into a more concrete proposal by the government.

At the same time President Sandu has announced that work has begun on a new umbrella agency that would encompass both the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Center / anti-corruption police CNA. This new agency would be modeled on the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate DNA. Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin fully supports this initiative and underlined the need to clean the existing offices of corrupt prosecutors and officials. It appears that one purpose of the merger would be to force all existing anti-corruption officials to re-apply for jobs similar to those that they currently have. This would make it easier to remove those with integrity problems en-masse rather than on by case by case courtroom fights. These issues have come to the fore in recent weeks in the public spats Dragalin has gotten into with various officials that we will discuss below.

While the new umbrella agency is only at an idea stage, MP Olesya Stamate, head of the Parliamentary Legal Committee has already voiced opposition stating that the process of the merger would likely cause many people working for the existing agencies to leave. She says that lots of expertise could be lost in the process. Unstated is the fact that “getting people to leave” seems like the whole idea. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out both in terms of concrete plans for the agency and in terms of inter-PAS party politics.

Problems at the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office

Last week leaked audio recordings of Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin addressing a general meeting of the staff of her office became public. In the recording Dragalin calls out what she says are corrupt prosecutors in the room with her and specifically the fact that internal investigative materials from the office are leaking out onto Telegram. Naturally the meeting itself was similarly leaked.

From the audio transcript Dragalin forcefully confronts prosecutors saying:

“I know perfectly well who in this team has no place in the future system that fights corruption in Moldova. I'll get rid of all of you as soon as the prosecutor's office changes. [referring to the General Prosecutor who is still operating on an interim basis] Therefore, you should know that the fact that I have not yet taken any action against certain prosecutors does not mean that your turn will not come. Leaking to Telegram channels about what is happening in this room is for me the lowest thing you can do, ”

My term of office is 5 years. This is longer than for deputies, than for Ms. President. I'll been here for 5 years. I will not go anywhere, I will be here, I will fight for honest prosecutors, and I will personally be present at the arrest of corrupt prosecutors. I want it to be clear to all of you what are the consequences of the actions that you are doing here,”

"Those of you who do not belong here, have a conscience, leave quickly. Because I'm about to start enforcement action, just so you know. What we are discussing in the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, no one should know. No priest, no wife, no mother. It's clear?"

Most controversially she promised to personally be present at the arrest of corrupt officials saying:

"And I can't wait to personally walk into someone's house at six o'clock in the morning with masked teams, in front of your children, your wives, your husbands, to be arrested, handcuffed and sent to prison. I can't wait for this to happen. I will personally be there!"

Addressing the veracity of the recording, Dragalin stated:

"The recording is genuine, this is part of a meeting that took place on June 7, 2023 at 9:00 am with the entire staff of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in an office on the 5th floor of the NCAC office. Only employees of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office were present there. My speech was illegally recorded without my knowledge. I urge this person or persons to publish my message in its entirety. I have nothing to be afraid of, because I have never said anything that I am not ready to say in public. Corrupt criminals have something to fear because we have records proving their guilt"

She went on to note that leaking information is a major problem because people operate with their personal phones and it takes only moments to take photos of internal documents and leak them to the subjects of the investigation. Dragalin stated that she is working to institute a policy whereby prosecutors are not allowed to use personal phones, but noted that finding the money to buy them work phones is taking time.

These leaks came on the heals of additional stories where the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s office had public disagreements with the General Prosecutor’s office and the director of the Public Property Agency who later resigned after making accusations against a prosecutor (though he says the resignation was for personal reasons).

Taken together the picture being painted is one where significant internal conflicts are spilling out into the open. Dragalin has stated that these are attempts by corrupt elements within the system to discredit her. President Sandu has backed the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor and commented on accusations that she is “intimidating” her staff saying:

"For the most part, these are people who worked during the Plahotniuc regime. And I didn't see them complain about intimidation back then. This raises questions for me. Moreover, for a long time I received letters with complaints of intimidation from people who, in the time of Plahotniuc, did not complain that they were forced to do illegal things,”

Analysis: What’s all this mean?

Stories like these highlight what experts and commentators in Moldova have long known - the fight against corruption needs to start with weeding out corrupt officials in the police, prosecutor’s office and judiciary. Dragalin’s leaked comments show her frustration that while working to prosecute corrupt officials she has not yet been able to weed out corrupt elements in her own office… even though she knows who they are.

Taken together with the proposal for an anti-corruption court and a new umbrella agency this news may represent a sea change in the government’s approach to reforming law enforcement in Moldova. For the last 2 years they have attempted to work within existing systems and replace corrupt individuals. This has led to some successes but also clear failures - this government has yet to name a General Prosecutor for example. Proposing whole new agencies that would operate on a “fire and re-hire” basis is basically ditching the scalpel and reaching for an ax.

Ending on a High Note!

In some very surprising sports news Moldova’s national football (soccer) team beat Poland 3:2 after coming back from being down 2:0 at halftime. This victory qualified Moldova for the European Championship in 2024. Congratulating the team President Sandu stated:

“Moldova, you win when people act as a single team! Last night, the Moldova national football team in the match with Poland showed that only through hard work, dedication and struggle until the last minute, we can achieve great results. We can turn any score in our favor, we can attract the attention and admiration of others. Congratulations to the national football team for the sense of pride it has inspired throughout the country. Congratulations to coach Sergei Kleshchenko and Ion Nicolaescu, who became the top scorer of the national team. We are proud of you!”