Moldovan Democratic Party Supporters Set Up Tents Near Ministerial Buildings In Chisinau

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2019) Supporters of the Moldovan pro-European Democratic Party have set up tents near some of the country's ministries and law enforcement agencies' buildings in Chisinau as part of protests against the country's Party of Socialists and the pro-EU ACUM bloc's cooperation agreement and President Igor Dodon's presidency.

On Saturday, Democratic Party deputy chairman Andrian Candu said that the party would organize protests to force the president to resign, accusing the latter of betrayal and calling for new presidential elections to be held in fall, along with the parliamentary elections. Candu claimed that "until yesterday," the Democrats and Dodon's Socialist Party were involved in talks to form a government coalition after the February indecisive parliamentary elections. The Democrats, however, could not agree to the Socialists' "unacceptable" conditions, including the country's federalization, which the party sees as the nation's betrayal, according to the politician.

Hundreds of supporters of the Democratic Party decided to spend the night in tents near the government building, the Prosecutor General's office, as well as buildings of the Internal Ministry, the Constitutional Court, the parliament and the Finance Ministry.

New Moldovan Interior Minister Andrei Nastase said in a video message that protesters could stage provocations.

On Saturday, the Socialists and the ACUM bloc gathered for a meeting in the national parliament to choose the legislature's leadership and start forming a coalition government.

Leader of the Socialists, Zinaida Greceanii, was elected as the parliament's speaker as a result. However, later in the day, the Moldovan Constitutional Court ruled that the election of Greceanii as the parliament's speaker was unconstitutional just as the other decisions made by the national legislature starting from June 8.

The ruling came after the court earlier said that the current parliament had until June 7 to form a new government after the indecisive February parliamentary elections and, since it failed to do so, should be dissolved. The lawmakers, however, insist that their mandates were recognized on March 9, therefore, they feel that they still have time until June 9 to form a coalition government until the thee-month deadline expires.

After the February 24 indecisive parliamentary elections, three main parties in the parliament were long unable to reach an agreement on a coalition government. Out of the 101 seats in the legislature, the Party of Socialists, which supports Dodon and rapprochement with Russia, got 35, while ACUM won 26. The formerly ruling Democratic Party won 30 and the SOR Party won 7. The last three seats went to independent lawmakers.

On Saturday, the Socialists and ACUM, however, managed to sign a cooperation agreement.