AEI in favor of modification of Constitution by referendum

“The Communist MPs will choose the head of state in the second round of presidential elections. Otherwise, the party will disappear. In the PCRM, there are two teams: one that wants to elect the President and a radical one that wants early elections. We will see which of the two teams will head the party,” the Head of Parliament, Moldova's Acting President and leader of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu said during the program “In profunzime” (“In Depth”) on the channel Pro TV Chisinau. All the four leaders of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) took part in the program, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Alliance's candidate for the presidency Marian Lupu, who is the leader of the PDM and had been a leading member of the PCRM, said that the decision made by the PCRM's Central Committee contains something unusual as the phrase “the plenary meeting obliges the parliamentary group of the PCRM not to vote for the candidate proposed by the AEI” looks like instruction, but some of the Communist MPs may not like to be obliged. “While I had been a member of the PCRM, I have not heard such phrases. There are two applications from Communist mayors and councilors from Rascani and Sangerei, asking the administration of the PCRM to vote in favor of Lupu as head of state. This shows that some of the members of the Communists Party have different opinions,” Marian Lupu said, adding that if the President is not elected on November 10, they will have one more month at the disposal for dialogue. For his part, Prime Minister and leader of the PLDM Vlad Filat said that the Communists' decision not to vote for the head of state is a tactic by the Communists as they will try to negotiate up to the last moment so as to gain as many advantages as possible. “The PCRM imposes unacceptable conditions not only on us, but also on the whole society. These conditions can change the entire political situation and lead to the formation of a new Alliance, the dismissal of the Government, the replacement of the Head of Parliamentary. Such messages can hinder in fact the dialogue,” Filat said. The AMN leader Serafim Urecheanu considers that the Communists' decision was taken in a hurry and in a situation of stress as the PCRM's rating is declining. “We can have surprises. The Communist MPs could enter the polling booth and vote. Otherwise, they are doomed to disappearance. The Communists will not vote tomorrow as they are afraid of Voronin, but this fear will ultimately fade away,” Urecheanu said. The four leaders of the AEI propose modifying the Constitution so as to find a solution and avoid the non-election of the head of state. Marian Lupu said that there should be held a constitutional referendum at which the people could say what they want, while the political class will have to comply with their position. Vlad Filat said that Moldova's Constitution is the only one in the region on which the people did not vote. “We should make the necessary modifications so as to have a functional Constitution. We have gathered more than 200,000 signatures from people in support of the amendment of the Constitution and will try to achieve this objective,” Filat said. Mihai Ghimpu stated that the people should decide what kind of republic they need – presidential, semi-presidential or parliamentary. The four leaders are convinced that a part of the Communist MPs will vote for Marian Lupu in the second round of presidential elections.