The speaker of Moldova’s parliament, Andrian Candu, has signed legislation appointing seven new government ministers along with a law that bans Russian “media propaganda.”
The signings on January 10 took place after Moldova’s Constitutional Court suspended pro-Russia President Igor Dodon’s powers on the issues and ruled that Candu could ratify the legislation, which was proposed by Moldova’s pro-Western government and passed by pro-Western lawmakers in the parliament.
The so-called “media propaganda” law effectively bans the rebroadcasting in Moldova of Russian television programs on news, analysis, politics, and military issues.
The Constitutional Court ruled on January 5 that either Candu or Prime Minister Pavel Filip could sign the bill into law because Dodon had “refused twice to fulfill his constitutional duty to sign the bill into law.”
Pro-Russia political parties in Moldova on January 10 called for street protests.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti condemned enactment of the law against rebroadcasting certain Russian television programs, saying it will be used to prohibit all Russian media broadcasts in Moldova.
Both Candu and Filip are members of the pro-Western Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM). Dodon is frequently at odds with Filip and his government, which favors closer ties with the EU and the United States.
Source: rferl
