The communist MP Galina Balmos became the Minister of Social Protection, Family and Child. According to the presidential press service, Balmos was appointed to this office via a presidential decree, under article 98 p. (6) of Moldova’s Constitution. Galina Balmos was the 87th member in the electoral register of the Communist Party in 2005. She entered the Parliament holding the no. 68. As a lawyer, earlier she held the office of secretary of the Straseni raion Council. She took the office of minister of the Social Protection, Family and Child in late 2006, after the Parliament passed a bill regarding the division of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection into two separated ministries. Earlier, social protection and healthcare sectors were split into two different ministerial structures under “Tarlev 1” Government, which served from 2001 to 2005. After creating the new Cabinet in 2005, it was decided to re-merge the two ministries, at the proposal of the head of state, aiming at “reducing the bureaucratic staff”. According to the authors of the bill regarding the division of the two ministries, the respective alteration became necessary because the previous merger of the respective ministries was not well-prepared enough and the results of the Ministry’s activity in certain fields (social protection of family, children) were not efficient.