CHISINAU, October 8. /TASS/. The Opposition Socialist Party of Moldova, which is holding together with Our Party the protests bringing together thousands of people demanding the resignation of the country’s leadership, has turned down the authorities’ offer to start negotiations, leader of the socialists Igor Dodon said on Thursday.
"We have nothing to negotiate with the oligarchical regime. Moreover, we are not going to sign any pacts with it. When they stole a billion, did they ask the people’s opinion? The only thing we can discuss with them is the resignation of all leaders and the appointment of the date of the parliamentary elections," Dodon told reporters.
Large-scale protests erupted in Moldova in the spring 2015 after the media had reported a theft of about one billion US dollars from three Moldovan banks, which nearly went bankrupt. Back then, Moldova’s ruling Alliance for European Integration coalition came under severe criticism from foreign donors, including the European Union and the World Bank, which subsequently suspended their financing of the republic.
The opposition declared Moldova "a country captured by oligarchs and seeks the resignation of the country’s leaders. It also insists on holding early parliamentary elections and the transition to the presidential election by direct vote.
Earlier on Thursday, the Moldovan authorities have invited politicians, representatives of the civil society, the scientific community and trade unions to jointly find a solution to the crisis. "We, as representatives of the most important institutions of the state, will sign the Social pact For Moldova developed on this venue, which we pledge to honor," says the appeal signed by Moldova’s President Nikolay Timofti, speaker of the parliament Andrian Candu and Prime Minister Valery Strelets.