Both mayor general Ion Ceban and Socialist leader Igor Dodon could have presidential intentions. According to municipal councilor Victor Chironda, the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) does not meet to approve projects for the benefit of people due to backstage negotiations between MAN and PSRM. The councilor noted that the two parties seek to identify a common presidential candidate and the creation of a majority coalition in the CMC is delayed therefore, IPN reports.
Councilor of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) Zinaida Popa accuses the municipal councilors of MAN and PSRM of unjustifiably delaying the work of the CMC. According to her, the MAN and Socialist councilors ignore people’s problems and refuse to form municipal groups and specialized commissions.
“We are 20 PAS councilors on the Municipal Council. We have 1/3 of the number of councilors and, according to the law, we have the right to initiate and convene CMC meetings. Respectively, we did this for three times. We made official approaches with signatures, with the proposed agenda. We urged all councilors to come and start work. Today we do not yet have constituted municipal groups, councilors delegated to work on specialized commissions. This means that no project can be approved or voted on. Only Victor Chironda accepted our invitation. The rest of the councilors do not consider it necessary to come to the meeting. We believe that this happens because Ion Ceban is conducting negotiations with PSRM to form a majority coalition, even though he spoke about unity and openness and said that he will work for the benefit of the citizens,” Zinaida Popa stated in the program “Public Space” on Radio Moldova.
In the same connection, municipal councilor on behalf of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” Victor Chironda said that the incapacity of the MAN-PSRM representatives to form a majority coalition on the CMC is due to the presidential intentions of the leaders of the two parties.
“There are 51 councilors on the CMC. Twenty-six votes are required to take decisions. MAN and the Socialists can form a majority coalition. It’s clear that this majority coalition will be formed. Ion Ceban comes from PSRM. They are from the same dough, although Ceban pretends to be pro-European now. The head of Rascani district was appointed on behalf of PSRM. So, it’s clear that negotiations are taking place. And, perhaps, these negotiations are taking so long because they are held in light of the next presidential election. Both Igor Dodon and Ion Ceban have presidential intentions. They are now probably negotiating who will be the sole presidential candidate. Unfortunately, because of these political calculations of the two parties, the citizens of Chisinau municipality suffer,” stated Victor Chironda.
For his part, the representative of the National Alternative Movement (MAN) Andrei Pavaloi said that all municipal councilors, of all groups, must sit down at the table and approve projects that benefit the people.
“Certainly, CMC will convene, especially since the general mayor called on all groups that entered CMC to sit down at the negotiating table and have discussions. Not everyone at their own table, but at a common table. This will enable to approve projects for the residents of Chisinau. The PAS councilors for three years in a row haven’t voted for the municipal budget and now they have claims,” stated Andrei Pavaloi.
After the elections in Chisinau were validated, three attempts to convene the Chisinau Municipal Council to constitute the municipal groups were made and they all failed. The elections were held on November 5, 2023.
