PLDM vice president Valeriu Strelet and PD honorary president Dumitru Diacov are accusing the Liberal Party of causing delays in the talks on coalition formation.

Speaking at a talk-show on ProTV, Strelet said he had the impression that the Liberals did not want to participate in government but rather be in opposition. “I think the PL is preparing a platform for becoming an opposition party”. Strelet added he didn't think the negotiations on the 12-chapter coalition agreement would be completed by the end of this year, because the negotiators weren't ready to take chances and make the same mistakes as in the previous coalitions.

Dumitru Diacov agreed that the Liberals seemed to be preparing the ground for getting into opposition and the talks would not be finished any time soon. “We, too, are concerned just like the entire society, knowing that the country is being governed by a caretaker Cabinet and we don't yet have a functional Parliament. But we need to make sure that the alliance is able to work in the next four years and we must not repeat our past mistakes”, said Diacov.

In reply, Liberal Valeriu Munteanu said that his party was willing to participate in the pro-European coalition as long as the other component parties were ready to accept some of the PL's terms. “There are a number of issues that raise concern and we must cross the T-s and dot the I-s on them. These include the airport concession affair, the mechanisms of electing the president and of merging ministerial portfolios. We believe that the number of ministries should be reduced from 16 to 13, and the agencies should be dissolved and reorganized into departments within the relevant ministries.

“For example, (the forestry agency) Moldsilva should be incorporated into the Ministry of Environment and the Bureau for Inter-ethnic Relations into the Ministry of Culture. Also, we believe that the customs should merge with the fiscal service”, said Munteanu.