Tough Negotiations in the Republic of Moldova

The newly elected Parliament in the Republic of Moldova is to convene on December 29, one day before the deadline for the first plenary session.

Valentin Țigău, 24.12.2014, 12:56

Moldovan president Nicolae Timofti has scheduled the first plenary session of the new Parliament in Chisinau on December 29, 2014. Presidency spokesperson Vlad Turcanu said that the president chose this date hoping that by then pro-Western parties will manage to reach an agreement with a view to forming a majority in Parliament. Having won last month’s elections, the three parties have been holding talks with a view setting up a ruling coalition. Here is Vlad Turcanu:

“The president hopes that over the next period, parties should conclude negotiations and thus set up a Parliament majority. The president awaits the setup of a ruling coalition, irrespective of its structure. At the same time, you know well where the president stands regarding the need to continue our efforts to acceded to the European Union. Therefore the president hopes the new coalition will be pro-European”.

Negotiations between the three pro-European parties are held behind closed doors, so that little has transpired regarding progress made so far. The Moldovan media has been speculating that the Liberals have suggested to their future coalition partners to split ministry portfolios based on a practice used in the European Parliament. More exactly, the faction that grabbed the highest number of seats chooses the first mandate, while nominations for the second and third portfolios are to be made by those parties that grabbed a smaller number of votes. The Liberals’ initiative has been met with a great deal of reluctance however by representatives of the Democratic Party, which claims that although this model could be viable for the nominations of the new ministers, it is unacceptable when it comes to agreeing on the highest-ranking positions in the ruling coalition. The three pro-European parties, the Democratic Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party and the Liberal Party jointly hold 55 of the 101 seats in the Moldovan Parliament, enabling them to have a majority and thus vote in the new Government. On the other hand, the Communist and Socialist parties have also entered the single-chamber Moldovan Parliament. The two parties’ programmes provide for closer ties with the Russian Federation. In Bucharest, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Victor Ponta have discussed the situation in the Republic of Moldova. The two officials expressed hope that the two countries should carry out further joint projects in 2015. Victor Ponta:

“The president, the Government, as well as all political and administrative structure in Romania, must continue to support Moldova in 2015 as well and do more for this country”.

On Monday, Moldova signed the contract for the delivery of natural gas supplies from Romania. The move is seen as a step forward for the country’s efforts to curb its dependency on Russian gas imports.