President Igor Dodon said he cannot and will not accept the candidate fielded by the government coalition for minister of defense. He specified this in the program “In Depth” on PRO TV Chisinau channel, IPN reports.

Igor Dodon said he would not change his position on this candidate and all the Moldovan citizens understand that the post of minister of defense should be held by a professional. “This candidate cannot be accepted and will not be accepted by the President. I will insist on being presented a professional,” he stated.

According to the President, there are suspicions as to this candidate’s integrity. “When he was an adviser, he got a salary from abroad,” stated Igor Dodon.

As to the Conditional Court’s decision that the President should accept the candidate if this is fielded for the second time by the Government and Parliament, Igor Dodon said the High Court interprets some of the norms of the Constitution. The Supreme Law on which he swore an oath does not stipulate that the President is obliged to accept the proposal the second time. “Go and add this provision to the Constitution and we will then be able to speak about the violation of the Constitution,” said the President.

According to him, those who are in power have now two solutions: they either review their position and propose another candidate or name another candidate as minister of defense without the President’s decree, which is a violation. “The legitimacy of this minister will be then not low, but inexistent. Naming a minister based on the CC’s decision when the Constitution says that this should be named by the President will be a violation,” stated the President.

The leader of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniucn on September 12 announced that the ruling alliance fielded the deputy head of the European People’s Party of Moldova Eugen Sturza, ex-head of the office of former Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, for minister of defense.