CHISINAU, August 25. /TASS/. Moldova’s opposition Party of Socialists plans to begin mass protests on Independence Day to seek early parliamentary elections.
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"We call on the entire population to take to the streets on August 27 to protest against the oligarchs who seized the power in the country and supporters of [Moldova’s] unification with Romania," leader of the Party of Socialists Igor Dodon told TASS. "We will hold a demonstration in Chisinau and then will spread the protests to the regions. By the end of September we will return to the capital to get rid of this government," said Dodon, whose party has the largest faction in parliament controlling a quarter of seats. In his opinion, the only way out of the systemic crisis Moldova is currently in can be snap parliamentary elections and then the general presidential elections.
"The Socialists believe that the president should be elected by popular vote rather than by the parliament to make sure that he is the leader of the nation, not a buffoon in the pay of the oligarchs who seized power in the parliament, government and brought the country to economic disaster," said Dodon who served as the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economic Affairs until 2009. According to him, "under the liberal pro-European government Moldova’s economy is deteriorating with growing pace."
The opposition leader added that the mass protests would be "a catalyst for early elections."