CHISINAU, August 26. /TASS/. Activists of the rightwing opposition staged a march in the central street of Moldova’s capital city on Sunday, a TASS correspondent said in an eyewitness account of the event.
In the course of the march, the participants in the rally picketed the national parliament, the state security service and the anticorruption center.
The protest was organized by leaders of the liberal pro-EU Partidul Platforma Demnitate si Adevar [Dignity and Truth Platform Party], Partidul Actioune si Solidaritate [Action and Solidarity Party], and the Liberal Democratic Party.
Initially, they came to the Square of the Grand National Assembly in the downtown, but only to find out that their opponents from the Republican Socio-Political Movement for Equality [the Sor Party] had already occupied the place.
"We’ll walk in a march of freedom to the [buildings of] seized state agencies and we’ll come back after that and will continue our protest," Maya Sandu, the leader of Action and Solidarity Party said.
Several hundreds of her party’s supporters tried to break through the police cordons in order to squeeze the political opponents out of the square, but unsuccessfully, although Sor Party members had already wound up their rally and the gathering was breaking up.
Some aggressively-minder right-wingers started hurling plastic bottles filled with water at the opponents but the police thwarted their attempts.
"Sor proponents occupied the square illegally and the place will be ours within half an hour," Dignity and Truth Platform leader Andrea Nestase said.
Chisinau police put the number of participants in the protests in the downtown areas at around 5,000.
Activists have returned to the Square of the Grand National Assembly
Activists of Moldova’s rightwing opposition, who staged a march of protest in downtown Chisinau on Sunday afternoon, have returned to the Square of the Grand National Assembly, saying they plan to stay there overnight, a TASS correspondent said in an eyewitness reports from the spot.
"We’re going to stay here for the night," Andrea Nestase, the leader of the liberal pro-EU Partidul Platforma Demnitate si Adevar [Dignity and Truth Platform Party] said. He co-organized the protest together with the leaders of Partidul Actioune si Solidaritate [Action and Solidarity Party] and Liberal Democratic Party.
"We’ll stay here during the night and after dawn," claimed Octavian Ticu, a leader of the protesters who occupied the post of minister for sports and youth policies three years ago.
"The regime wanted bloodletting here today but it didn’t turn out this way," he said. "We must dislodge the regime."
Earlier in the day, the opposition hoped to hold its meeting of protest on the Square of the Grand National Assembly but when the activists came their they found it had already been occupied by supporters of the Republican Socio-Political Movement for Equality [the Sor Party], their political opponents.
The speakers attending the rally on the Square of the Grand National Assembly levelled sharp criticism at the ruling Democratic Party and demanded reverting to the proportional system of election to parliament.
They also called for ensuring an independent judiciary and returning the 1 billion euros stolen from the countries’ banks during the rule of a pro-European coalition of parties.
The activists threatened with a civil disobedience campaign if the authorities failed to meet their demands.