Moldovan Helsinki Committee chair joins Liberal Party in parliamentary elections

Stefan Uratu, the chairman of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Moldova, will run for a seat in parliament on the ticket of the Liberal Party (PL), going at number 22, Info-Prim Neo reports. Uratu, who ran in the April elections as an independent, told a news conference on Friday he was joining the PL because his voters advised him to. “I accepted to participate in the early elections on the PL's list on the recommendation of the voters who support me and I hope that I together with the PL we'll create a state based on the rule of law”, explained Uratu. According to him, his decision was reinforced by the fact the the PL was the only party to request in the aftermath of the April 7 events the observance of human rights and the creation of a commission that would investigate the 'crimes' committed by the ruling party. Attending the conference, PL leader Mihai Ghimpu said that while the party's ticket suffered some changes, the first 15 names on it remained the same, except for Chisinau deputy mayor Nistor Grozavu. “The PL has become a stronger and younger team. Nistor Grozavu won't be on the PL's electoral list because he must serve as ad interim mayor, since Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca remains to be at the top of our ticket. People who refused to be corrupted by the communists remained on the list”, Ghimpu declared. Among the new names on the PL's ticket are Ion Cebanu, the party's faction leader in the Chisinau City Council; Valeriu Munteanu, lawyer and mayor of Floreni; Alexandru Arseni, doctor of law, etc.