Political consultations in Chisinau

Negotiations continue for the establishment of a parliamentary majority

Daniela Budu, 05.06.2019, 13:50

In Chisinau, the right-of-centre ACUM Parliamentary Bloc and the Socialists discussed means to overcome the parliamentary deadlock. The talks focused on a so-called package to free public institutions from captivity. The next step would be, according to the president of the Action and Solidarity Party, Maia Sandu, for ACUM to form a minority government:

Maia Sandu: “What we aim to do is to start a process of dismantling the oligarchic control over public institutions. This can be initiated by passing legislation in Parliament. Once the first step taken, and if there is a consensus for a second step, namely for an ACUM government able to clean up public institutions, then obviously we will move on to the next step.

ACUM Bloc insists that, in a first stage, the leading posts in both Parliament and Government should be held by its representatives, and that the prime minister position should be taken over by the Socialists only after the new legislation is passed. On the other hand, after the talks with ACUM Bloc, the head of the Socialist party, Zinaida Greceanyi, said that the Socialists will not give up the Parliament Speaker post and that basically the positions of the two sides remained unchanged. The Socialists also want the ministries of the interior, defence and reintegration in the future government:

Zinaida Greceanyi: “We havent gone any further than that. We have presented our positions, which are very strict, they did the same, we have seen there is some openness in this respect, so we are now to see what comes next.

The talks between ACUM Bloc and the Socialists took place after 3 foreign officials, representing the USA, the EU and the Russian Federation made separate visits to Chisinau and discussed with parliamentary parties. After the talks, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, said the European Union is interested in Moldova having a stable government and a sound parliamentary majority, with politicians working together to improve the living standards of Moldovan citizens. ACUM warned that the foreign officials had voiced concern with the developments in the Republic of Moldova, and emphasized that the political solutions to the crisis are within the country.

In the parliamentary elections of February 24, the pro-Russian Socialist party headed by President Igor Dodon won 35 out of the 101 seats. The left-of-centre Democratic Party headed by the controversial oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc will have 30 seats, and the pro-European right-wing cartel ACUM will have 26 MPs. Another 7 seats are held by the populist party headed by the pro-Russian Mayor of Orhei, Ilan Shor, who has been sentenced by a court of first instance to 7 and a half years in prison for his involvement in Moldovas one-billion-dollar bank fraud. The remaining 3 seats are held by non-affiliated politicians.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)