The head of state is obliged to consult all the parliamentary groups for nominating the candidate for premiership, but cannot be obliged to nominate the candidate fielded by a parliamentary majority if there are suspicions of corruption about the candidate. Such conclusions were formulated in the program “Moldova live” on the public TV channel Moldova 1, IPN reports.

Doctor of Law Alexandru Arseni said the head of state can reject a particular candidate for premiership. “The head of state is obliged to consult all the parliamentary parties and to nominate the candidate chosen by Parliament, if he determines that this is an integral person. If the head of state has particular suspicions about the candidate, he cannot be obliged to nominate this. There is the decision of the Constitutional Court of 2013, which does not allow designating a candidate for Prime Minster if this is suspected of acts of corruption. Based on this decision, Vlad Filat couldn’t have been nominated repeatedly for premiership. But the Constitutional Court’s decisions do not refer to particular persons. The head of state risks nothing if he does not accept the candidate proposed by Parliament. It is Parliament that risks as it will be dissolved if it does not vote in the candidate fielded by the head of state by two attempts,” explained the expert.

Doctor of Law Nicolae Osmochescu, former Constitutional Court judge, has a similar opinion. “The Constitution obliges the head of state to consult the parliamentary parties, not yet to accept their candidate for premiership. The President must have his own position and must have the final say,” he stated.

On December 29, the Constitutional Court rejected the application by which the 14 MPs, who left the Party of Communists, challenged the President’s decree to nominate Ion Sturza as a candidate for premiership. The Court ruled that the decree is constitutional, specifying the head of state’s right to propose a candidate for Prime Minister represents a constitutional obligation. If an absolute parliamentary majority is not formed, after consultations the head of state is obliged to nominate a candidate for Prime Minister even if the parliamentary groups do not agree with the President’s proposal. If an absolute parliamentary majority is formed, the President nominates the candidate supported by this majority.