Chisinau, February 19 (Infotag). The parliamentary Social Liberal Party group will demand at the forum’s plenary sitting next Thursday to set up an ad hoc commission to scrutinize the situation developing in and around the parliament’s hotel.

Party leader Oleg Serebrean told a news conference in Infotag today that the hotel, which has 28 double-room and 3-room apartments, is presently inhabited by 1 parliamentarian of the Democratic Party, 2 – of the Christian Democratic Popular Party, 3 deputies from the Moldova Noastra Alliance, and 2 – from the Social Liberal Party.

The rest unites are occupied by lawmakers representing the majority Communist Party as well as by persons having no relation to the Parliament, such as e.g., Republic of Moldova’s Permanent Representative at the Council of Europe Andrei Neguta, ministers and deputy ministers.

Besides this, two apartments have been given for rent, which is in contravention of the law, emphasized Serebrean.

He further stressed that several Communist MPs, who failed to receive apartments in the parliament’s hotel, are paid a special allowance of 2,500 lei a month intended for hiring dwellings.

“But the most strange thing about all this is that the majority of such ‘homeless’ deputies do have apartments of their own in the capital city. But as they are officially registered at localities outside Chisinau, they are paid the said 2,500 lei allowance. In addition, a list of nearly 70 parliamentarians [of the legislative forum of 101] was drawn up earlier this year, who are going to receive brand-new dwellings in hypothecation apartment houses at a price of US$310 per a square meter [which is 2-3 times cheaper than average prices in the city]. Most of these names in the list are the Communists, including the Communist Party faction leader Eugenia Ostapciuc”, said SLP leader.

In his words, the funding, which was intended from the State Budget for repair of the parliament’s hotel in 2001-2002, was “laundered, so to speak. I will explain. Sums equal to several dozen thousand lei were allotted from the Budget for the repair of each apartment in the hotel concerned. However, that money never reached its destination, for it was used for the perfection of other private apartments, which certain Communist MPs – including Eugenia Ostapciuc who had been Parliament Speaker then – were building for their families”.

“As for SLP MPs Igor Clipii and Valentina Stratan, they were given dwellings in the parliament’s hotel on fully legal grounds. Clipii has no housing in Chisinau, though he has been registered at the hostel of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Valentina Stratan has no housing in the city. Yes she used to have one, but after a divorce the home went to her ex-husband, who paid US$22 thousand to her as the ex-wife’s share. This money is too little to buy an apartment here”, said Oleg Serebrean in response to the accusations against his faction members heard in parliament last Friday.

The Social Liberal Party accused the ruling Communist Party of using parliamentary facilities for their own selfish purposes.

Serebrean said, “Just for fun, try and phone on Monday morning to the parliament garage and request a car for an opposition deputy. I am sure you will hear there are no cars available, for all of them are away being used by Communist MPs. For instance, we know that deputy Vladimir Eremciuc (MCP) goes to his native Ocnita raion practically every Friday for weekends [some 250 kilometers off Chisinau]. The Volga car from the parliament garage, which delivers him home and comes back to Chisinau, consumes 12 liters of gasoline per 100 km of run. On Monday early morning, the driver rushes to Ocnita again to collect the parliamentarian to his work place. So, each weekend one such car makes about a thousand kilometers. At the same time, oppositional deputies cannot count on a car for more than 5 hours a working day, and cannot go outside Chisinau”.

Oleg Serebrean drew attention to yet one more interesting circumstance: the Parliament Apparatus, which is supposed to be impartial, is in reality a highly politicized society. Over 60% of its employees, from consultants to office cleaners, are Communist Party members.

Oleg Serebrean said the majority MCP faction would not certainly agree to the SLP’s initiative to set up such an ad hoc commission, “so in such case we shall demand the formation of an investigation commission by the opposition, and then the Communists will not stop us”.