Liberal Chisinau councilor Ion Cebanu said acting mayor of Chisinau Ruslan Codreanu should resign as he took up the post abusively, by an order signed by him on July 10, after deputy mayor Nistor Grozavu refused to hold the post of mayor on an interim basis, IPN reports.

“Things started to degenerate into a catastrophe. The activity of the Chisinau City Hall has been blocked. The initiated pseudo-reforms produced no result. Tender contests are held, but no one takes part in these. The business entities refuse to have connections with the City Hall. We now also have a novelty – a deputy mayor named himself acting mayor. Things turn from ridiculous into serious. We should convene the standing board to discuss the created situation and suggest solutions  before discussing other problems,” Ion Cebanu stated in the July 24 meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC).

The request was supported by Socialist councilor Ion Ceban. “Mister Codreanu made a litigious order on the interim mayoralty. The law does not clearly stipulate how interim mayoralty is instituted, but the CMC is the only body that can do this. Mister Codreanu took up the mayoralty on an interim basis absolutely abusively,” he stated.

Valeriu Bogdan, head of the Legal Assistance Division, said the order is legal as the CMC intervenes to institute the interim mayoralty only when there is no one who can hold this post.

Councilor of the European People’s Party of Moldova Veaceslav Bulat said all these requests and statements are made for the sake of a show. “You have kept silent and discussed draft decisions, but now started to make a show at the meeting of the CMC. This is sheer hypocrisy,” he noted.

Ultimately the councils convened the standing board of the CMC to take a decision. Ruslan Codreanu hasn’t yet commented on the situation.