On February 27, a child aged one year and eight months fell from the third floor of an apartment building in Chisinau. The boy was admitted to the intensive care section with multiple traumas, including abdominal injury, a concussion and fractures of the arms. The incident happened when his parents left him in the care of his elder brother.

On February 28, President Igor Dodon proposed a bill to amend the Constitution. The initiative defines five new cases when the Head of State can initiate the dissolution of Parliament. If the proposal does not garner the necessary number of votes by March 24, Igor Dodon will launch the procedure for reviewing the Constitution based on the people’s initiative.

The same day, the chief of the IMF mission Ben Kelmanson, in a news conference held jointly with Prime Minister Pavel Filip, announced that the IMF staff and the Moldovan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on the first review under an economic reform program supported by a three-year Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility arrangement. The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by IMF Management and the Executive Board. Consideration by the Executive Board is expected in April, following the authorities’ implementation of a number of prior actions. Completion of the review will make available SDR 15.7 million (about US$ 21.2 million).

On February 28, Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu announced that the draft laws on capital liberalization and tax amnesty were withdrawn. He argued that a number of deficiencies were identified in the two bills. Therefore, the five MPs who signed these bills submitted a withdrawal application. The draft laws were registered in Parliament on December 1, 2016 and were passed by a majority of votes in the first reading. The initiative, whose authors include Speaker Andrian Candu, was criticized by experts, who said that the proposed bills do not respect the principles of money laundering prevention, run counter to the agreement signed with the IMF and make tax evasion less risky.

On March 1, Eugen Doga turned 80. A series of events were held on the occasion of the anniversary. The composer was congratulated by senior state officials and admirers. Eighty martsishors improvised from balloons were released into the sky in front of the Chisinau City Hall to honor him.

Also on March 1, President Igor Dodon announced the launch of a social dialogue platform for conciliation between the two sides of the Nistru River. Details about the functioning mechanism haven’t been made public. In a press briefing, the Head of State said that time has come to start a new page in Moldova’s history and convince the people that they should not leave with the past and should find the power to forget the earlier sorrows.

On March 1, Moldova’s Ambassador to Russia Dumitru Braghis was recalled. Braghis was named ambassador in Moscow in November 2015. The reason for the recall wasn’t specified.

On March 2, there were staged a commemoration march and a meeting on the occasion of 25 years of the start of the armed conflict on the Nistru.

The legislative body on March 2 adopted the draft decision to appoint Vadim Filipov as a member of the Central Election Commission. Vadim Filipov, 31, is a jurist by profession and works as a lawyer at the Lawyer’s Office “Filipov Vadim”. After the local elections of June 2015, he became a councilor on behalf of the Party of Socialists on the Chisinau Municipal Council.

The same day, President Igor Dodon had a working meeting with Prime Minister Pavel Filip. The two officials discussed the recall of ten ambassadors and naming of 17 potential candidates. The President accepted to start the procedure for asking for the agreement for: Andrei Neguta, to Russia; Aurel Ciocoi to the U.S,:, Victor Sorocean, to Belarus; Victor Osipov, to Austria; Emil Druc, to France; Victor Moraru, as Moldova’s Standing Representative to the United Nations/New York; Anatol Vangheli, to Greece, and Violeta Agrici, to Spain.

On March 3, President Igor Dodon 3 signed a decree by which Artur Gumeniuc was appointed as adviser to the President on defense and national security, secretary of the Supreme Security Council. By another decree, there was created the Economic Council under the President. This consists of over 40 personalities, managers, owners of companies operating in different sectors of the economy, heads of professional associations and experts.

The People’s Assembly of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia on March 3 elected a new chairman. This is Vladimir Kyssa, who replaced Alexandru Tarnovski. The latter was chosen as deputy chairman.

Also on March 3, the ex-governor of the National Bank of Moldova Leonid Talmaci was placed under arrest for 15 days, being charged on three counts. This is accused of abuse of power, involvement in a criminal group specialized in swindles and of causing damage by swindle and abuse of confidence.

Selection by Alina Marin, IPN