November 1 (SeeNews) - Moldova's Constitutional Court has ruled that a draft law backed by pro-EU opposition in parliament to change the name of the official language in the country from 'Moldovan' to 'Romanian' is constitutional.
The proposal to change the name was put forward by the Liberal Democratic Party, PLDM and signed by 35 MPs from all pro-European opposition parties in the 101-seat national legislature.
The ex-Soviet state of Moldova has a population of some 3 million and has strong historical and political ties with its western neighbour and EU member Romania. Moldovan is the name given to the Romanian language spoken in Moldova during the Soviet era. Around a tenth of Moldova's population is living in the internationally unrecognised separatist republic of Transnistria, which broke away in the 1990s. They speak Russian and identify themselves as Russians.
According to Moldova's constitution adopted in 1994, the official language in the country is Moldovan. However, the court ruled in 2013 that the text of the country's Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1991 and mentioning the Romanian language, prevails over the constitution.
The 2013 ruling served as a precedent for Tuesdays' decision, the court said in a press release.
"Considering the above, the Court noted that the draft law on amending Article 13 of the Constitution, advanced for the purposes of executing the Judgment of the Constitutional Court of 5 December 2013, has no legal inconsistencies or inaccuracies and shall be submitted to Parliament for adoption," the Constitutional Court said.
The proposal to amend the Constitution will need 67 votes to pass.
Currently, the Democratic Party (PDM) is the biggest force in Moldova's parliament with 41 seats. Socialist Party (PSRM) is the second biggest party with 24 seats, followed by the Liberal Party (PL) with 10 MPs, the European Parliamentary Group with 10, the Communist Party with 7, the PLDM with 5 seats and 4 independent deputies.
Shortly after the court announced its decision on Tuesday, Moldova's pro-Russian president and former Socialist Party leader wrote on Facebook that the absolute majority of Moldovan citizens believe that they speak the Moldovan language and that if there are doubts a referendum can be held.
"The Socialist Party has 24 seats in parliament, we will find another 11 to prevent the amendment of the constitution," Dodon added.
This is not the first confrontation between Dodon and the pro-European forces in the country.
In mid-October, the constitutional court ruled that Dodon can be suspended from office after he refused twice to swear in a new defence minister. Using the court's ruling, on October 24, a new defence minister was put into office despite Dodon's protests.
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