Klimenko demands Ghimpu’s suspension from office

Councillor Valeri Klimenko of the Social-Political Movement Ravnopravie (Equity) demanded on Thursday, February 21, that the chairman of the Chisinau City Council (CMC), Mihai Ghimpu, be suspended from office for the period of the trial challenging his appointment. If the court finds that the appointment of Mihai Ghimpu to the office hasn’t been legal, all the decisions adopted by the Council and signed by Ghimpu will be rendered void and the councillor’s work will be wasted, Klimenko explained. Klimenko’s request however was not backed by other councillors, with Ghimpu remarking that the suspension of the CMC chairman is not stipulated by the legislation and that the councillors may only propose his removal. At the same City Council meeting, Klimenko demanded that Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca present a report accounting for the number of his trips made abroad and the amount of public money spent for that purpose. Klimenko also wanted to know how many other city officials travelled abroad and the expenses incurred by the city coffers as a result, as well as the legal ground for allotting daily allowances to delegations, given that the City Council hasn’t granted any funding for that purpose. Klimenko also inquired why the municipality hasn’t considered the opportunity of forgiving the debts owed by the city businesses to the municipal budget, in the spirit of the efforts to liberalise the economy carried out by the central authorities. He alleged that the mayor and the chairman of the Council may have decided unilaterally not to grant debt relief to the economic entities in the city, although the Council has the legal power to do that.