Marian Lupu, the leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova, and Iurie Bolboceanu, the president of the National Council of the Social-Democratic Party, signed a memorandum to initiate the merger of the two parties on Friday evening, Info-Prim Neo reports. Under the document, the PSD will be absorbed into the PDM, which will take over its rights and obligations. In a news conference, Marian Lupu said the merger is aimed at strengthening the center-left and Social-Democratic forces in Moldova. “The fusion is the result of actions that we took in the past,” he said, adding that the memorandum only restarted the process leading to the formation of a united team. Dumitru Braghis, the president of the Social-Democratic Party, did not attend the ceremony where the memorandum was signed. Iurie Bolboceanu said the leader of the PSD has a different position as regards the party's prospects. “The merger decision was taken at a meeting of the Political Bureau on Thursday. Seven of the 13 members of the Bureau voted in favor of signing the memorandum,” Bolboceanu said. The next days, the two parties will delegate representatives to work on a commission that will finalize the merger by formulating and signing a merger contract. The memorandum was signed several hours after the presidential candidate Marian Lupu had a meeting with the Communist leader Vladimir Voronin. Asked to say what subjects they discussed at the meeting and what agreements they reached, the PD president stated he cannot say that certain results were achieved, but added that he is ready to continue the discussions with Vladimir Voronin.