Ion Sturza’s refusal to run for MP on the ticket of the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) was a serious blow to the party, the party’s chairman Ion Hadarca said in the program “Politics” on TV 7 channel, IPN reports.

According to Hadarca, the PLR experienced an earthquake with the magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter scale. “It shook us considerably, but we endured. We wanted Ion Sturza to become the driving force not only of the PLR, but also of the reforms in Moldova,” he said.

The head of the PLR also said that the discussions he had with Sturza were positive and Sturza’s appearance in the media showed that he intended to return to politics. “I don’t know what happened. He probably got scared. It is rumored that Traian Basescu reprimanded him at the request of a party leader from Chisinau. Sturza’s businesses are in Romania and he possibly refused in order to protect them,” stated Hadarca.

Jurist Ion Dron noted that by his refusal Ion Sturza deprived the Moldovans supporting the political right of a new, alternative organization. “The voters of the left have such an alternative, while the voters of the right do not have it. I think Ion Sturza had a special mission, namely to mobilize the people voting for the right. In September, after he accomplished his mission, he said that he does not want to return to the Moldovan politics,” he stated.