Moldova's Socialist-controlled parliament on December 3 passed the bill effectively stripping President-elect Maia Sandu of control over the intelligence agency SIB and allowing lawmakers to regain jurisdiction over it.
The new legislation has been approved just weeks before Sandu is set to be sworn in, RFE/RL reported.
Sandu, who favors closer ties with the European Union, defeated the Russia-backed incumbent president Igor Dodon in the recent election, while parliament remains dominated by the pro-Moscow Socialists aligned with Dodon.
The majority in parliament have argued that since Moldova was a parliamentary republic, control over the intelligence service should be handed to parliament.
Read alsoZelensky congratulates Sandu on victory at presidential elections in MoldovaThe bill has passed parliament despite public outcry and harsh criticism on the part of the president-elect.
Sandu has described the decision as "an attempt to usurp power" and undermine her presidency.
Noteworthy, during Dodon's cadence, in June last year, the same parliament voted to transfer the control of the intelligence agency from parliament to president.
Moldova's Sandu: Other reports
- Candidate from the Action and Solidarity Party, former Prime Minister Maia Sandu won the presidential election runoff in Moldova on November 15. Her rival was the then-incumbent head of state, Igor Dodon.
- Maia Sandu has reaffirmed her position on supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in relation to Crimea.
- The president-elect has also called for thw withdrawal of Russian troops from the country's Transnistria region.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Maia Sandu to visit Ukraine.
