Andrei Stratan becomes chairman of Republican Party

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Stratan was appointed as head of the Republican Party. He told Info-Prim Neo he was elected leader of the Republican Party at the August 1 congress of the party by a unanimous vote. The party’s former chairman Ion Curtean and vice chairman Valerian Hortolomei remained to work as part of the party, but it is not yet known what posts they will hold. The Central Election Commission registered the Republican Party of Moldova as a participant in the campaign for the September 5 constitutional referendum. The party will campaign in favor of the referendum and urge the people to vote for amending Article 78 of the Constitution. The Republican Party was founded in 1999. In the April 5, 2009 legislative elections, it did not pass the election threshold as it polled 0.09% of the vote. Before the early parliamentary elections of July 29, 2009, it withdrew from the race and campaigned for the Democratic Party.