The Parliament’s session on Friday began with applause for the results of the national constitutional referendum and the presidential election after Speaker Igor Grosu asked for this, thanking the citizens of the Republic of Moldova "for these two very important victories". Although they are part of the same group – the Bloc of Communists and Socialists – the Socialist MPs did not attend the sitting, unlike their Communist colleagues. However, the two camps held separate briefings at which they said that they do not recognize the election outcome, citing violations, IPN reports.
"It is the first sitting after the election campaign, after the constitutional referendum and the presidential election. Let me start by thanking all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova and congratulating them on these two important victories. The Moldovans have resisted. The Moldovans have shown that they care about their country, about democracy. They want to be part of a world of peace, the world of prosperity, in the big European family. The Moldovans have proven that they can withstand the avalanche of lies, propaganda, attempts to divide, dirty money from within, but especially from outside," Igor Grosu said at the beginning of the sitting.
The Speaker expressed his respect for the diaspora, specifying that it demonstrated exemplary mobilization. "I’m proud for my country, I’m proud for our Moldovans, our citizens everywhere. Let's thank them and tell them that this victory is due to them," noted the head of the legislative body.
The Socialist MPs were not present in the plenary hall. However, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Socialist Vlad Batrîncea held a briefing in which he announced that, together with his colleagues, they will go to the Central Election Commission, which is to total the results of the runoff presidential election on Friday. They will file complaints about the second round. According to him, the PSRM’s lawyers processed "hundreds of notifications of their observers", but also synthesized the reports of national associations and international missions.
"We challenge the result of this election and ask the CEC to examine and come up with clear answers regarding those illegalities that took place, including the massive use of administrative resources, campaigning and propaganda on days of silence, etc. We will also request the CEC to depoliticize the electoral process. The Commission favored the current head of state," said Vlad Batrîncea.
The Communists, although they came to the sitting, came out in front of the press, also declaring that they do not recognize the election results. "We are going to conduct a very big campaign against all these results – both of the referendum and of the presidential election. We consider that neither the referendum nor the election of the President is valid. The President is not elected according to the Constitution and cannot have a legal mandate," said the PCRM leader Vladimir Voronin.
At the beginning of the sitting, the Parliament's secretariat announced that 69 MPs will attend the sitting.
