Vladimir Voronin, the leader of the Communist Party (PCRM) and the outgoing President of Moldova, was elected as Speaker of Parliament by the vote of the 60 Communist MPs. He was the only candidate put up for this post, Info-Prim Neo reports. Voronin was elect by secret vote by 60 MPs. A simple majority of 52 votes is enough to choose the Speaker. The three Opposition parliamentary groups – the PL, PLDM and AMN – did not field candidates and did not take part in the voting. The Opposition said it will not participate in the election of the head of state either. “As the elections were rigged, we will not take part in the election of the Speaker of Parliament and President of Moldova,” the AMN MP Iurie Colesnic said. He asked President Voronin not to take up a public post in the name of the victims of the April 7 events and of the people that endured eight years of dictatorship. The Communist MPs stood up and applauded when the voting results were announced. “Today, we mark the start of a new four-year cycle of parliamentary activity,” Vladimir Voronin said from the rostrum of the Parliament. He thanked those that voted for him for, saying it was a great honor for him to be elected as Speaker. “I realize that while holding this post I must do my utmost for the legislative body to work actively, promptly and coherently,” Voronin said. “The whole society asks the same questions: How viable will this Parliament be? Will the MPs manage to overcome the political crisis and find force to start legislative work to serve voters’ interests? I’m convinced that we will live up to the expectations of the people that voted for us on April 5,” he added. The Speaker said that all the MPs have a joint task: of defending voters’ interests regardless of the political affiliation. “Time has come to lift the political barriers built before the elections.” Among the priorities of the new legislature, Voronin mentioned increasing the civil society’s role in formulating legislative documents, guaranteeing by law the independence and transparency of the judicial system and mass media, making progress on the path to European integration, fairly settling the Transnistrian dispute, controlling implementation of the legislation, fulfilling the commitments made to the voters. After delivering his speech, Vladimir Voronin took the seat of the Speaker and announced a pause so that the parliamentary groups could propose candidates for deputy speakers.