Election of Speaker postponed until Thursday

The election of a new Speaker in the Moldovan Parliament has been postponed until Thursday, December 30, as the parliamentary factions failed to form a majority at the legislature's inaugural meeting on Tuesday, Info-Prim Neo reports. After the establishment of the parliamentary factions, Democrat MP Dumitru Diacov requested to adjourn the proceedings for the election of the Speaker until Thursday, 4:00 PM. The proposal was accepted by Communist leader Vladimir Voronin, who presided over the inaugural meeting as the most senior member of Parliament. “We've had rather difficult times, at times even tense. So of course there is need for a break to consult each other, to find a solution and form this majority”, argued Diacov. On exiting the assembly hall, Lib-Dem MP Alexandru Tanase told reporters that any scenario can occur until Thursday. “We'll have to wait until the 30th (of December) at 16:00 to see what's next. I hope we will be able to negotiate this situation and elect a chairman of the parliament. Odds are even for any situation to happen. But it would be better if everybody were a little bit more realistic, and wouldn't have unwarranted expectations”, said Tanase.