Parliament meeting closed after tussle

Parliament's meeting was closed today after Liberal-Democrat Alexandru Cimbriciuc and Iurie Muntean engaged in a tussle. The brief fighting erupted during a speech by Liberal-Democratic group leader Valeriu Strelet, who was defending Prime Minister Vlad Filat on travel spending, Info-Prim Neo reports. The argument started to brew when Communist Zinaida Chistruga requested that the Court of Accounts head appear before Parliament to report on Filat's “exaggerated” travel expenses. In reply, Valeriu Strelet made a questionable joke: “Better we should call the Minister of Health, who might want to check the health of some Communist representatives. I don't know what's wrong with them, but sometimes they ask some things in a completely stupid manner. Concerning the Court of Accounts, any trips made by the Prime Minister are in the interest of the country”. Meanwhile, Communist Oleg Reidman approached Strelet in a bid to close his microphone, as he later told reporters. Along came Communist Iurie Muntean, who after a brief exchange of remarks with Lib-Dem Alexandru Cimbriciuc nearby, engaged with him in a tussle and even managed to punch him in the nose before they were separated. After Speaker Marian Lupu tried to unsuccessfully pacify the meeting, it was declared closed. This is the second incident lately when MPs pick arguments in Parliament. In October, Iurie Muntean pushed Deputy Speaker Vlad Plahotniuc as he tried to intervene in an argument between Muntean and his former party colleague Ion Ceban.