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On 18 May 2017, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, stated on his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/dodon.igor1/) that he is against the ‘No Fear 2017’ March that is to be organised on 21 May 2017. According to the President, such actions ‘contradict our traditional values, Orthodox faith, and morals’.

Promo-LEX Association expresses its concern about the President’s message, which does no less than divides the citizens into those who respect traditional values and Orthodox faith and those who ‘violate’ these, into the moral and immoral ones, those who practise Orthodox faith and the adepts of other religions.

We are concerned with the fact that the President of the Republic of Moldova promotes messages contrary with the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova he is obliged to protect and observe. One of the President’s duties is to strengthen the society so as to avoid conflicts, and in case of any, to settle them, respecting everybody’s rights.

Moreover, according to Article 40 of the Constitution, ‘Meetings, demonstrations, rallies, processions or any other assembly shall be free and may be organized and conducted only peacefully and without the use of any weapon whatsoever’. Note that Mr. President announced the organisation of major rallies supporting and promoting the traditional family values on the same day and relatively close to the route of the ‘No Fear 2017’ solidarity march.

Our concern is that the President Igor Dodon ‘ordered’ to organise such rallies, which implies that he used his powers and/or resources as President of the Republic of Moldova. It is worth noting that the social and cultural event entitled ‘Festival of the Family’ will be held by the PSRM in the Grand National Assembly Square. At the same time, the ‘No Fear’ march will pass through the Bucuresti Street, relatively close to the Festival. Thus, the President’s declaration about his categorical position against a march which will be held rather close to the event he will participate in, could trigger wrangles among the participants of the two events, as it happened before.

We urge the head of the state to observe the constitutional provisions and to become their warrantor and promoter. We also call the authorities to allow for proper holding of the events, and the rest of the society – to show tolerance and mutual respect, which form an integral part of a truly democratic state.

I would like to express my categorical position against holding the LGBT march.

I have informed the U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Moldova, E.S. James D. Pettit, that it’s not only my personal stance, but the position of the vast majority of Moldovan citizens. I made it clear that such actions contradict our traditional values, Orthodox faith and morals. They cannot and will not be accepted either personally by me or by the public, in general.

In this context, I ordered to organise a number of activities to support and promote traditional family values, that will begin in the Grand National Assembly Square at 11 a.m., on Sunday.

We also discussed the amendments to the Electoral Code, Government reform, referendum on removing the General Mayor from his office, as well as progress in settling the Transnistrian dispute.