The Moldovan Parliament has amended the country's Criminal Code by adding two articles that establish responsibility for active and passive political corruption, as reported by NewsMaker.
According to the draft law, such crimes will be punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years. The first new article, concerning passive political corruption, prescribes punishment from three to seven years of imprisonment for a public official receiving money or other benefits for leaving their party and/or switching to another party.
The second article, concerning active political corruption, entails similar punishment for bribing a public official with the same purpose.
Additionally, the Criminal Code of Moldova will now hold political parties or competitors on the elections responsible for receiving illegal funding from criminal groups.
The same draft law prohibits elected officials from participating in elections on behalf of parties that have been recognized as unconstitutional.
Olesia Stamate, the head of the parliamentary legal commission in Moldova, emphasized that the new articles are aimed at combating the "phenomenon of political tourism," especially within the parliament.
Recall that on June 19, the Constitutional Court, at the request of the government, declared the activities of the pro-Russian party "Shor" unconstitutional, based on evidence of illegal funding and bribery of protest participants.
The Moldovan government also stated that "Shor" would not be able to register as a new political force using a similar name.
