The councilors of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) chosen in the June 14 local elections came together for the first meeting on July 28. In it, the councilors were handed over their permits. There were formed the factions and named the faction heads, IPN reports.
The faction of the Party of Socialists, which consists of 19 members, will be headed by Ion Ceban, who is to vacate his seat of MP. The Liberal faction, with 17 councilors, will be led by Ion Ciobanu, the faction of the electoral bloc “PPEM – Iurie Leanca” (six seats) – by Oazu Nantoi, the faction of Our Party (three seats) – by Elena Panus, while that of the Party of Communists (3 seats) – by Vasile Chirtoca.
Zinaida Grecheanyi, of the Party of Socialists, and Monica Babuc, of the Democratic Party, didn’t come to the first sitting because they submitted applications by which they renounced the seats of councilor. These will be replaced by the substitute candidates from parties’ lists.
The first meeting of CMC was marked by harsh replies, especially between Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca and Socialist MP Ion Ceban. The bone of contention was the date of the next meeting of the CMC. Dorin Chirtoaca proposed holding the next meeting on September 3 so as to form a majority alliance in the period. Ion Ceban insisted that the pause should be of at most ten days and demanded constituting a special commission that would deal with the formation of the CMC commissions in the period.
“There are too many problems and the school year will soon start. There is also the problem of tariffs and we cannot delay things any more,” said the Socialist. “You should have through about this when you filed a challenge to court, disputing the election outcome,” replied Chirtoaca.
Oazu Nantoi, who is the eldest councilor in the CMC and chaired the first meeting, repeatedly urged his colleagues to calm down. Ultimately, the councilors of the pro-European parties and those of the Party of Communists voted to hold the next meeting on September 3.
