CHISINAU, November 5. /TASS/. Moldova’s Liberal Democratic Party has refused to revive a pro-European coalition with the Democratic and Liberal Parties, the party’s deputy leader Valeriu Strelet said on Wednesday after taking over leadership in the party from Vlad Filat who has been arrested on corruption charges.
"The Liberal Democratic Party will not take part in any talks on forming a parliamentary majority with the Democrats and their allies," Strelet said. "The Democratic Party has been sabotaging reforms in the country and has usurped institutions of state power. It is not a really pro-European party."
Hence, Moldova’s ruling pro-European coalition formed by the Liberal Democratic, Democratic and Liberal Parties after the November 2014 parliamentary elections has broken apart. The split took place after the Democrats voted for the resignations of the Strelet government along with the Party of Socialists and the Party of Communists on October 29.
A day before, the Democratic Party said it planned to form within two weeks a parliamentary majority with those who support Moldova’s integration into the European Union. The Democrats invited for talks the Liberal Party and a number of lawmaker who have broken away from the Liberal Democratic Party to form the European People’s Party. The three political forces have 37 seats in the 101-seat Moldovan parliament. The Communists and the Liberal Democratic Party, with 21 and 19 seats, respectively, were also invited to join the coalition.
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If the coalition enrolls support from the Party of Communists it will be able to form a new government, for which ends at least 51 votes are needed, and elect a president in March 2016, who needs support from at least 61 lawmakers. Such coalition however has its drawbacks, since coalition relations with the opposition Party of Communists might adversely impact the reputation of all pro-European parties.
The Party of Socialists, which has the biggest faction of 24 lawmakers, has also refused to join the coalition. "We have forced the pro-European government that was bogged down in corruption to resign and now we demand resignation of the president, dissolution of the parliament and early elections. We are confident disputes among politicians are to be resolved by voters," the party’s leader, Igor Dodon, told TASS. In his words, the parliament can be dissolved in two cases: first, if President Nicolae Timofti, whose office term expires in March 2016, steps down, or in the case the parliament fails to form a new cabinet within three months after the resignation of the previous government.