Corneliu Mihalache elected as Chairman of Audiovisual Coordinating Council

6 out of 9 new members of the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual (CCA) voted Corneliu Mihalache as chairman of the regulation authority in the broadcasting field on Thursday, November 9, at the constituting meeting. One of the CCA members, Ruslan Plesca did not have the right to vote because of his temporary incompatibility with the office of CCA member. The candidature of Mihalache was proposed by the CCA member Gheorghe Gorincioi, who recognized that his proposal is subjective and that Mihalache is known in the media field, especially given his activity at “Moldpres” State News Agency and as editor-in-chief at “Moldova Suverana” newspaper. Valeriu Frumusachi and Vlad Turcanu did not support the candidature of Mihalache and proposed Ludmila Vasilache for this office. Ludmila Vasilache was confirmed as deputy chairman of ACC. Mihalache supported the candidature of Ludmila Vasilache, saying that “although she is considered a media specialist, she is not such a good specialist in the electronic media”. Corneliu Mihalache declared that he will try to disappoint those who said he will be politically influenced, but he does not know if he will manage to achieve this, because, as he declared “you can not disappoint those for whom these kinds of statements are an electoral opportunity”. On October 20, The Parliament confirmed 8 CCA members: Corneliu Mihalache, Ludmila Vasilache, Gheorghe Gorincioi, who will held this office during 6 years; Ruslan Plesca and Valeriu Soltan – 4 years each; Constantin Rotaru, Valeriu Frumusachi and Vlad Turcanu – for 2 years. They were voted by the Communist and Christian-democrat MPs, but the selection procedure and several candidatures were criticized by the representatives of the Parliamentary opposition. AMN faction and some independent MPs left the sitting hall as a protest. During the sitting of November 2, the Parliament confirmed the candidature of Carmelia Albu for a period of 4 years. Many opposition MPs accused the specialized Committee that it has not transparently selected the candidates and that it grounded itself on party interests. The MPs also referred to the fact that several candidatures are professionally inferior to other participants in the contest. According to the provisions of the legislation, within 2 months, the new ACC must propose to the Parliament the new statute and the new personnel chart for approval.