Councilor makes 500,000 lei defamation claim against CMC Chair
The argument between the chairman of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC), Mihai Ghimpu, and Christian-Humanist councilor Oleg Oniscenko has reached a new boiling point on Thursday when the latter told a CMC meeting that he filed a suit in court against Ghimpu, alleging the CMC chair had damaged his reputation by making offending statements against him earlier this month. Oniscenko seeks public apologies as well as 500,000 lei in damages, Info-Prim Neo reports.
The councilor announced he also sued Liberal Gheorghe Brega, for the same reasons, seeking 200,000 lei for damages. “I can’t ask for more from a doctor”, explained Oniscenko.
In his speech, Oleg Oniscenko demanded that Mihai Ghimpu present a report accounting for the activity of the Council from the moment he took office. The councilor accused Ghimpu of including 26 issues on land allocation in Thursday’s meeting agenda, without the prior consent of the specialized commission. The CMC Chair was also accused of refusing to countersign the draft decisions authored by certain councilors. Oniscenko brought as an example the case of an economic entity which was refused in 2007 to adjoin a plot of land lying adjacent to its building.
In retort, the CMC Chair admitted he refused to sign the allocation document, on grounds that the offered price was way lower than what it really cost. Mihai Ghimpu proposed the Council to review the decision, dismissing the rest of the accusations as falsehood.
On March 3, Oleg Oniscenko accused Mihai Ghimpu of not being able to efficiently organize the work of the Council and to create a balance among the political forces forming the local administration. The councilor blocked the central rostrum demanding that the Council consider sacking Ghimpu. The proposal didn’t gather the required number of votes to be included in the order of the day.