The former president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) Vlad Filat, ex-Premier, said the leaving by Alexandru Tănase and Mihai Godea, who then held the posts of vice presidents of the party, formed part of a scenario aimed at weakening his positons. He admitted the leaving of Alexandru Tănase, who then served as minister of justice, was the most painful for him, IPN reports.
“I’m mainly to blame for this as I should have taken greater care of our relationship as this was not only a relationship between the president and the vice president of the party and not only between a Prime Minister and a minister of justice. We made our studies together and were together involved in a very interesting campaign. I refer to the campaign prior to the mayoral elections in Chisinau. I personally cared a lot for him as a man, professional and as a character, as I thought then,” Vlad Filat stated in an interview that was broadcast in the talk show “Black box” on TV8 channel.
According to him, Alexandru Tănase left the PLDM because he probably felt isolated and because the communication wasn’t as intense as earlier. “Alexandru Tănase had the possibility of doing anything to grow under the “palm tree” called Vlad Filat,” he stated, referring to Alexandru Tănase’s assertion that nothing can grow under the palm tree Vlad Filat. “Besides growing, Alexandru Tănase had an obligation that he assumed before the people – to ensure the implementation of a justice sector reform after the Communists left power. And I don’t think he didn’t do this reform because of me”.
Vlad Filat noted that Alexandru Tănase was persuaded to leave the PLDM. “We should not forget that he didn’t leave alone. Vice president Mihai Godea also left after him. I think the leaving by Alexandru Tănase and Mihai Godea formed part of a scenario aimed at weakening me as the then government coalition was in an unhealthy state given the disproportionate support offered by society in the parliamentary elections of 2010, we holding 32 seats of MP, while the Democrats and the Liberals only 27 seats together. I believe this attempt not to allow someone to have greater success was part of this scenario,” stated the politician.
In 2007, Alexandru Tănase was among the founding members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova. He left the party in 2011, when he held the posts of vice president of the party and of minister of justice. He later became a judge of the Constitutional Court, being proposed by the Filat Government, and was then elected president of this Court.
The interview was conducted in Penitentiary No. 13 where the former Prime Minister is serving his nine-year sentence for passive corruption and influence peddling. He is also investigated in another case for considerable money laundering. Vlad Filat pleads not guilty, saying his case is political in character.