Moldova’s Constitutional Court approves Sturza’s nomination as Moldovan prime minister

The Constitutional Court of Moldova has considered the complaint by the MPs from the For Moldovan Social-Democratic Platform about the president’s decision to nominate Ion Sturza as prime minister.

The MPs say that the President’s decision was illegal but the Court has ruled otherwise.

This means that if the Parliament rejects Sturza’s candidacy, the next candidate may be determined by the parliamentary majority.

“When there is no absolute majority in the parliament, the President is obliged to consult the parliamentary groups and to nominate a candidate for the post of prime minister even if they are not satisfied. If there is an absolute parliamentary majority, the President is obliged to appoint their candidate,” the Court said.

When asked to comment on the Court’s verdict, its Chairman Alexandru Tanase explained that so as to be considered as formed, a parliamentary majority needs to be registered.

Sturza said that the Court’s decision was well balanced but refused to make more comments.

On Saturday, he is going to present his cabinet and its program. On Sunday the ministers are supposed to sign a declaration of incorruptibility.

In the meantime, the Democrats and the former Communists are not going to support Sturza and his cabinet. The Moldova Social-Democratic Platform is planning to form a majority and to nominate Vladimir Plahotniuc.

The only force supporting Sturza is the Liberal Democrats, who have 19 seats in the Parliament, while for becoming prime minister he needs the support of at least 51 MPs.