Politician Fiodor Gagauz, who has announced his intention to run as an independent candidate for the office of Bashkan (Governor) of Gagauzia in the next elections, said that ending the parliamentary dialogue platform between deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and members of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia was a mistake. He also stated that he would push for the platform to be restored. Moreover, the former MP proposed opening an office of the People’s Assembly within the national Parliament, TRIBUNA reports.

“All questions and disagreements must be resolved through dialogue and cooperation. One of my first initiatives would be to create a platform at the level of the Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG). Yes, this platform did not achieve everything we had hoped for, but it did produce results at both the legislative and administrative levels. It was a mistake to abolish this dialogue platform,” he said during the Focus program on Laf.md.

Fiodor Gagauz stressed that this format of dialogue between Chișinău and Comrat should have been preserved, including with the involvement of experts and representatives of international partners.

“In the future, this platform must be restored. Institutionally, certain mechanisms should also be put in place to make the dialogue more effective. For example, in the past we discussed with the Speaker of the People’s Assembly and the Speaker of Parliament the idea of opening a People’s Assembly office in Parliament. This would allow a representative of Gagauzia to be permanently based here in Chișinău, maintain continuous communication, work with parliamentary committees on legislative matters, and participate in parliamentary sessions. This would create a mechanism for permanent dialogue,” the former MP added.

It should be recalled that on November 20, 2015, a Joint Working Group was established to ensure the functioning of the Autonomous Territorial Unit (ATU) of Gagauzia and the implementation of the Republic of Moldova’s legislative provisions concerning the autonomy. The group consisted of members of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and deputies of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. Its purpose was to improve the functioning of Gagauzia’s autonomy within Moldova’s constitutional framework, based on the 1994 Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia. In December 2023, members of the People’s Assembly decided to suspend their participation in the joint working group with members of Parliament.