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Moldova’s Constitutional Court to review controversial decisions

President Igor Dodon earlier demanded that those decisions be reviewed

© EPA-EFE/DUMITRU DORU

CHISINAU, June 15. /TASS/. Moldova’s Constitutional Court will review the decisions made on June 7-9, which triggered a political crisis in the country, the Court said in a statement on Saturday.

"Moldova’s Constitutional Court will meet on June 15 to review the decisions made on June 7-9," the statement reads. A court spokesperson told TASS that the decisions in question had dissolved the country’s parliament, called a snap parliamentary election and declared the appointment of a new parliament speaker and the formation of a new government illegal.

Moldovan President Igor Dodon earlier demanded that those decisions be reviewed.

Political crisis in Moldova

Moldova’s parliament was unable to create a ruling coalition and form a government following the February elections. Only on June 8, the Party of Socialists supporting President Igor Dodon managed to reach an agreement with the pro-EU ACUM bloc to oppose the Democratic Party led by oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, which controlled the former parliament and cabinet. The leader of the Party of Socialists Zinaida Greceanii was elected the parliament’s speaker, and the government was formed with Maia Sandu, the leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity, a part of the ACUM bloc, as the prime minister.

The Democratic Party refused to recognize the new government and turned to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the parliament’s resolutions were invalid as the parliament had failed to form a government within 90 days (starting on March 9, when the lawmakers received their mandates).

After that, the Constitutional Court authorized acting Prime Minister and member of the Democratic Party Pavel Filip to sign a decree on the parliament’s dissolution instead of the president. Dodon described the move as an attempt to usurp power.

Russia, the United States and the European Union expressed support for Moldova’s parliament.

On Friday, the Democratic Party announced the resignation of Pavel Filip’s cabinet. According to a party source, the decision was made after US Ambassador to Chisinau Derek Hogan’s visit to the party office.

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