New head of state could find new premier already appointed, expert

The difficulty of electing the new president creates the risk of a powerful long-lasting crisis and erodes the democratic institutions. Most probably, the new prime minister of Moldova will be named by the current head of state, not by the new one, independent expert Vitali Catana stated for Info-Prim Neo. “As a rule, the new head of state should attend the investiture of the new government. But things are complicated by the constitutional provision which says that the president is elected by 3/5 of the votes. This provision has serious effects and should be eliminated. It finds no support in the principles that lay at the basis of the constitutional regime and in the political reality in Moldova,” the expert said. The present government became an interim government immediately after the Constitutional Court validated the July 20 legislative elections and the seats of MP. The interim government will work until the new government is invested. Meanwhile, the cabinet will only administer the public affairs, but will not make decisions and will not issue ordinances, Vitali Catana specified. The head of state will nominate the candidate for prime minister after consulting all the parliamentary groups. Within 15 days of the nomination, the candidate will have to ask for a vote of confidence on the government program and the composition of the cabinet from the MPs. If a candidate is not appointed, the parliamentary groups can field a new candidate. “If the parliamentarians do not give a vote of confidence to a candidate within 45 days of the first nomination, the parliament can be dissolved after two candidates are rejected,” Vitali Catana said. “The current president Vladimir Voronin will have to cooperate with the representatives of the parliamentary groups in appointing the candidate for premier. If Vladimir Voronin is ill-intentioned, he will try to create difficulties and has the possibility of doing so. But the Government must represent the new parliamentary majority. “Vladimir Voronin should accept a candidate proposed by the government coalition, especially because he does not form part of the majority in the current legislature anymore,” Catana said. At the same time, the expert said that the outgoing president can use his influence to cause problems and contribute to the prolongation of the political crisis in Moldova. If the head of state does not accept the candidate for premier put forward by the coalition, there could be held new early elections, but not sooner than February 2010. The prime minister is elected by a majority vote.