Decision-making transparency suffered during the spring 2024 session. In the rush to vote on legislative projects, deputies sometimes overlooked this crucial aspect of their work. Out of the 20 plenary sessions held, not one was free from issues related to decision-making transparency, either due to the non-publication of relevant documents or failure to meet deadlines for presenting stakeholder recommendations on the projects. The Promo-LEX Association has consistently stressed that documents related to legislative projects should be published well before parliamentary sessions to ensure transparency and accessibility.
During the spring session, transparency was compromised by an average of 58%, with variations between 31% and 100%. In 13 of the 20 sessions, transparency compliance fell below 50%. Compared to the autumn session, where transparency was affected by an average of 49%, from 18% to 100%, the spring session had a more significant impact on transparency.
During the spring parliamentary session, there were meetings where the level of impact on decision-making transparency reached high values, such as:
- March 28: Transparency was compromised by 81%.
- March 21: Transparency was compromised by 65%.
- May 16: Transparency was compromised by 60%.
- June 6: Transparency was compromised by 100%.
- July 11: Transparency was compromised by 74%.
The main issues identified during the monitoring of plenary sessions were related to the non-publication of documents for 128 projects. It includes reports from committees, opinions from authorities, and approvals from the Legal Directorate or the Government, among others. Another problem observed was the frequent failure to meet the legal deadline for presenting stakeholder recommendations for 84 projects voted on in the recently concluded session.
During the spring 2024 session, there was a significant trend of changes to the agenda. In eight out of the 20 meetings, the rate of agenda modifications exceeded 100%, with the highest recorded at the February 15 session, where it reached 766%. Promo-LEX notes that this prominent fluctuation indicates instability and lack of clarity in agenda planning, impacting the efficiency of the legislative process. It occurred despite Parliament having approved a legislative program for 2024, which aimed to provide more substantial stability and predictability to the parliamentary agenda.
Essential changes to the agenda occurred in the following meetings:
- February 15: Modifications amounted to 766%.
- March 14: Modifications amounted to 271%.
- April 25: Modifications amounted to 275%.
- May 30: Modifications amounted to 200%.
- July 4: Modifications amounted to 240%.
- July 11: Modifications amounted to 180%.
- July 18: Modifications amounted to 300%.
- July 25: Modifications amounted to 161%.
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The Promo-LEX Association has repeatedly highlighted that such a high turnover of agenda items affects decision-making transparency and understanding of the projects being reviewed and voted on. Ultimately, Promo-LEX reiterates that Parliament must ensure that decision-making transparency is maintained to guarantee a more effective legislative process.
From 2021 to 2025, Promo-LEX aims to monitor the activities of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, focusing especially on transparency, legality, and the efficiency of procedures, through the “Democracy, Transparency, and Accountability” Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The aim of this monitoring is to increase institutional transparency, refine legislative procedures, and improve engagement between deputies and citizens.