Voronin states he's president of all Moldovans on Ekho Moskvy

“I am the president of the whole people of Moldova, not only of the ones who voted for me,” stated Vladimir Voronin on Tuesday evening on the Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. He avoided to say whom he plans to leave as a successor, but described him “as a very well known person who will be accepted by all the people,” but insisted everything will be decided by the Communists party. “Under the Constitution we're a parliamentary republic,” the PCRM leader specified. Tackling the Transnistrian issue, V. Voronin is inclined to believe he will have a joint meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov before the April 5 election. “We know the citizens from Transnistria also receive Russian citizenship, but our Constitution does not ban this,” said the Communist leader. The president said the European integration is seen as a national idea and this did not necessarily mean joining NATO. He supports demilitarizing the country, which “should take place before or during the process of settling the Transnistrian conflict.” Referring to the world economic recession, Voronin considers it could hit Moldova by delays in payments from exports. “It is felt that the salaries are not paid in time in certain sectors,” Voronin exemplified. He assessed the number of migrant workers at 220,000-280,000, underlining they have jobs at home, in case they decide to return. Speaking about the idea of opening more polling stations abroad, much talked about in the running electoral race, Voronin said “we do not have the right to get our feet in other countries,” suggesting it's legal to open stations only in Moldova's diplomatic missions. On journalist Aleksey Venediktov's insistence to get an answer about how the electoral rights of the migrants will be observed, the president said: “Let 'em come home and vote.” Info-Prim Neo's note: Voronin has never wanted to renounce his office of the PCRM's leader during his eight years as a president. In November 2008 the Strasbourg Court decided that banning persons with multiple citizenship to elected in public offices is disproportionate and unjust, but the Government sued at in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.