The Constitutional Court will not rush to validate the February 24 elections as negotiations are being attempted to reach a coalition understanding, thinks political pundit Alexandru Cuznețov.
Theoretically, Cuznețov told an interview with Radio Europa Liberă, the current parliament can act as caretaker for as long as needed until the elected legislative holds its inaugural sitting. “So in this situation, nobody seems to rush, really. They prefer to talk coalition arrangements and leave the establishment of the Parliament bodies and the Government for a later time”.
In his opinion, it’s unlikely to see a grand coalition emerge, bringing together all the parties. So a coalition that allows a simple majority will be sought. There could be a coalition with a tilt towards Russia, with the Democrats joining the Socialists, or a pro-European one, bringing together the Democratic Party, the Shor Party and the bloc NOW. “And then there’s the possibility of snap elections, which I don’t think is a good idea. Today we don’t have the profound crisis we had before, when consensus couldn’t be reached in Parliament over the presidential nomination. Now it’s a much simpler situation. It’s all about negotiations. Like a famous politician once said, ‘Let’s talk values and principles’,” says Cuznețov.
Asked whether the Democratic Party would agree to sacrifice the European course for a strategic partnership with Russia as the Socialist leadership proposes, Cuznețov said this would not mean a total abandonment of the European course. “Economically, the East continues to prevail, not the West. I’m talking about the CIS space and the influence of Russian economy on Moldovan economy, and this is something you can’t change”.
Cuznețov suggests it doesn’t really matter if the country is governed in the next four years by the Socialists, or the Democrats, or NOW. “The existing situation can’t be changed by any political party. Our law system is very good, remarkably good, perhaps as good as in Norway, save for its application. Because human resources, our country's greatest asset, are dwindling. In this situation, there is really nothing one can do, except maybe for a huge injection of money from outside, like it happened in Portugal, or in Spain, where a lot of jobs were created”.
The Central Elections Commission submitted the election results to the Constitutional Court for approval on March 4, and the Court has five days to pronounce, but not until all requests for review are examined.