Moldovan parliament to renominate Plahotniuc as candidate for prime minister

Most of the Moldovan MPs insist that President Nicolae Timofti should nominate Vladimir Plahotniuc as candidate for prime minister.

In their statement on Jan 13, 56 MPs said that the president had no weighty grounds for rejecting the candidacy.

“Concerning the parliament’s resolution No 5, we adopted it at Plahotniuc’s request to resign and as a result of a voting. The Constitutional Court’s resolution on reputation has nothing to do with Plahotniuc. So, the president had no grounds for rejecting the candidacy,” the MPs said.

The statement was signed by the leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova Marian Lupu, Violeta Ivanova, who represents 14 MPs who have broken away from the Party of Communist of the Republic of Moldova, the leader of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu and Ion Balan, who represents seven Liberal-Democratic MPs.

“We urge the president to respect the will of the parliamentary majority. Plahotniuc was nominated in line with the constitution. Our decision was constitution, so there we no reasons for the president to refuse to appoint Plahotniuc as prime minister – even if the candidate was nominated by a force opposing him,” the MPs said.

In the meantime, the right-of-the-center opposition force Demnitate si Adevar (Dignity and Truth) is picketing Timofti’s residence and is urging him to reject Plahotniuc’s candidacy.

Just 100 meters away from them a group of another demonstrators demand stability and order. They warn that mid-term elections will cause an even bigger crisis in Moldova.

Timofti’s key argument for rejecting Plahotniuc’s candidacy was his tainted reputation.