Andrei Covrig, a former deputy president of the political movement “The European Action” (MAE), has told a news conference on Friday that 60 members were leaving the party. “We withdraw from MAE because it is far from the European and democratic standards,” Covrig said. “We reserve the right to return to MAE only if it elects a charismatic leader, with real qualities of a politician,” said Andrei Covrig, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Six former members of the Permanent Bureau and of the National Council of MAE, attended the news conference and declared themselves worried about the fate of the party. They say that on 25 February they sent a confidential letter to the leaders of the party suggesting to discuss the situation MAE was in on the eve of the parliamentary elections. In their opinion, the party created the premises that it should not gain the necessary votes to pass beyond the electoral threshold to enter the parliament. “MAE has been subjected to destroying critique, and Ion Neagu was included into “the black list” of candidates for a seat in parliament, as a deputy who has problems with his moral integrity,” said Boris Cioban, a former deputy president of MAE. The letter demanded that MAE should retreat from the race. Its authors pleaded for supporting a pro-European party “with real chances to enter the parliament”. Andrei Covrig, a reserve colonel, has said that, on May 1, at the National Council of MAE, he and other members of the party were asked to leave the venue when they tried to say their opinion. “Anatol Petrencu and Ion Neagu set to vote for excluding several members from the party. We learnt about this from a press communique,” said Andrei Covrig. When asked by Info-Prim Neo, Anatol Petrencu, MAE's leader, has said the key reason for ousting several members was the severe violation of the statute of the party. “We consider ungrounded the attacks against MAE. I suppose the disagreements are based on the place they were offered on the list for the parliament,” Petrencu said. At the same time, MAE's leader has said some expelled members wanted to promote the PLDM in the electoral race. Andrei Covrig and Boris Cioban have said they will never join any political party.