The resignation of Vitalie Marinuta from the post of minister of defense wasn’t a great surprise if considering the political context in which it took place. Judging by the statements made by Moldovan politicians over the last year, the dismissal of the minster could be anticipated as Vitalie Marinuta was the target of political attacks and even the subject of a censure motion, IPN reports, quoting a comment published on the portal www.promis.md.
The portal presents in detail all the statements made by 23 MPs and political leaders referring to the problems faced by the defense sector, including the death of nine conscript soldiers, the scandal about the sale of armament of the armed forces and sequestration of property of the National Army.
In a comment published on this website, Igor Botan, executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, presents succinctly the causes and implications of Vitalie Marinuta’s resignation, saying the dismissal is not only due to the apparent conflict between the supreme commander of the armed forces and the minister of defense.
“There are nuances. The ministers are put forward by the ruling parties, based on an algorithmic agreement. The supreme commander elected to post two years later than the minister of defense, being initially supported by the Liberal Party and then by the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR),” said Igor Botan. According to him, the supreme commander formed his opinion about the minister of defense after the series of incidents that happened in the National Army. Probably, this opinion didn’t count much in the process of working out the new national defense strategy.
Igor Botan considers that the head of state was rather indulgent towards the former minister Vitalie Marinuta, while the reproach about the lack of discipline in the National Army is logical as the incidents that occurred in the army during the minister’s tenure had a negative impact on the pro-European coalition.
According to him, the given incidents formed a negative background that had an impact on the political activity of the minister, including the public argument with his former party chief, who promoted him to the post, and the public debate on the family businesses. The minster’s professional activity was also criticized by his political enemies, even if it was an appropriate one.
“The given circumstances had a negative effect on the public image of the minister of defense. Thus, last December Vitalie Marinuta lost the competition for the post of leader of the Liberal Reformist Party and this February he tendered his resignation,” it is said on www.promis.md.
Vitalie Marinuta resigned on February 27. He said then that his opinions about the reformation of the country’s security system are different from those of the head of state. The first candidate proposed by the PLR for the post of minister - lawyer Vitali Catana – didn’t enjoy the support of the Liberal Democrats and the Democrats and thus Catana withdrew his candidacy. On April 5, Valeriu Troenko, another candidate of the PLR, was invested as minister of defense.
