City councillor suggests his colleagues start meetings with prayers

City councillor on behalf of the Humanist Party, Serghei Cires, who received his mandate at the meeting held on September 6, urged his colleagues to address prayers to God before starting the meeting. “I suggest that every meeting starts with a prayer, before or after the city anthem is played, in order to smooth our relations. We all call ourselves Christians, and yet we don’t have an icon here”, said the councillor, trying unsuccessfully to put the proposal to a vote. Serghei Cires is the senior priest of the Saint Parascheva Church. He termed the situation in the City Council ‘unproductive’ and expressed hope that his presence in the Council would foster understanding, faith, tolerance and tactfulness. Cires became councillor in the Chisinau Municipal Council after the leader of the Humanist Party Ion Mereuta gave up his mandate in favour of “the Orthodox Church”.