Acting Prime Minister Ion Chicu said all the secretaries of state at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection tendered their resignations out of their own free will. He assured this is not staff clearing and called on the people to avoid making insinuations, IPN reports.

“The secretaries of state at the Ministry of Health said sincerely that they decided to leave voluntarily. You can discuss with each of them. At our insistence, no one wanted to remain. They understood that after the approval of the budget and the normative framework, the Cabinet will leave,” Ion Chicu stated in the program “Natalia Morari’s Politics” on TV8 channel.

Asked if the Government will leave or will act as an interim until a solution to the political stalemate is identified, Ion Chicu said everything depends on the result of the discussion he will have with President Maia Sandu on December 24.

“I said repeatedly that the success or failure of actions depend on the cooperation between the Government, President and Parliament. I will discuss with Missis President on Thursday and will tell you if we stay or not,” stated Ion Chicu.

On December 22, Constantin Rîmiș, who is in charge of public health issues, and secretaries of state at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection Alexandru Holostenco, Nelea Rusu and Julieta Popescu  handed over their resignations.