The first attempt by Parliament to elect the President of Moldova failed on November 10, 2009. It marked the beginning of the political crises typical of the coalition governments of the declared pro-European forces that came to power after the tragic events of April of the same year, IPN reports.

Then, Democratic MP Marian Lupu, who was the Alliance for European Integration’s candidate for the presidency, being the only one who competed for this post, didn’t garner the necessary number of votes to be elected. Only 53 of the 101 MPs voted for him. The President is yet elected by 61 votes.

The special commission declared that only 53 of the 101 ballots were used and were validated. The Communist group consisting of 48 MPs didn’t take part in the vote.

The subsequent political crises, generated by the impossibility of electing the head of state in Parliament and by the disagreements between the parties that formed the government coalition, reoccurred regularly.

IPN described the atmosphere in which the voting procedure took place in the news item produced that day. The photo that accompanies the given article was taken also on November 10, 2009.