Political turmoil in Moldova

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 09 Jun 2019 by Alex Teddy

An institutional conflict between the Moldovan Parliament and the Constitutional Court is exposing oligarchs’ leverage on political institutions. After three months of negotiations since the February elections, a government was finally formed in Moldova following a surprising alliance between two apparently opposing blocks - namely, President Dodon’s Socialists and the pro-European ACUM group. The socialists have 35 seats and the pro-europeans 26, making a deal between them enough to reach the majority of 51. The reason of this unlikely and unprecedented coalition was both blocks’ aim to keep Head of the Democratic Party (DP) and oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc away from the government. The Democratic Party won 30 seats during the legislative elections, and thus, it was hoping to form a coalition and enter the new government. Today, the Constitutional Court announced the dissolution of the Parliament and the dismissal of President Dodon, who would be replaced by DP member and former PM Pavel Filip. The Constitutional Court justified his decision in their interpretation of the 3-months period to form a government, saying it expired on Saturday. However, that day the Parliament had approved the composition of a new government to be headed by pro-European Maya Sandu. The Constitutional Court, at the request of PD deputies, did not take that into account and Pavel Filip, new PM of Moldova, has called snap elections on 6 September to ease tensions. Plahotniuc is a very divisive figure, considered to be in control of key political institutions in the country including the judiciary, anti-corruption bodies and previous governments. He has business interests in several fields, in...

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