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Moldova’s opposition sets up National Salvation Committee

The opposition refuses to recognize the government of Filip and insists on dissolving the parliament and carrying out early elections

CHISINAU, January 24. /TASS/. Moldova’s opposition announced the creation of the National Salvation Committee at the thousands-strong anti-government protest in downtown Chisinau on Sunday.

"The committee will lead the steps on liberating the country where power was usurped during the parliamentary elections in November 2014," one of the leaders of the Dignity and Truth (DA) Civil Platform, Vasile Nastase, said.

The organization will consist of representatives of the civil society and also opposition parties, he said.

"In Moldova, the majority of state bodies have been usurped, that’s why we demand that early elections are scheduled no later than April 2016. We will turn to the international community to ensure legitimate and free elections," he said.

The leadership of the Central Election Committee and the Prosecutor-General’s Office needs to be replaced to this aim, Nastase added.

The rally is also attended by the supporters of the left-wing opposition - the Party of Socialists and the Our Party.

"We have come here with one goal - to free the country from oligarchs who have seized Moldova," the leader of the Party of Socialists, Igor Dodon, said. "We will achieve our goal - early elections. For the first time in 25 years of independence the people of Moldova have united," he said.

Renato Usatii, the leader of the Our Party, has called for the need to "restore people’s trust in authorities." The protesters will also establish people’s tribunal to bring to justice corrupt authorities, he said.

Mass protests have been held in Chisinau since Wednesday, when the opposition picketed the parliament building where the new government was endorsed. It took six minutes for the parliamentary majority formed around the Democratic Party of Moldova to approve the cabinet of Pavel Flip. The candidate for prime minister was given no time to present the program of his future cabinet. This hasty appointment triggered riots, with protesters trying to storm the building. More than 30 people were injured in clashes with police.

The opposition refuses to recognize the government of Filip and insists on dissolving the parliament and carrying out early elections.

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