It’s been more than a month since the dismissal of the Strelet Government, but the negotiations to form a ruling alliance, to designate a candidate for premiership and to vote in the Government go on, if they were started, and it seems that nobody knows when these events will take place. A part of the reasons for this uncertain situation and the perspectives ahead can become clearer if we follow the official statements and the real developments, as IPN’s reporter Cristina Popusoi did.
---
- The Cabinet led by Valeriu Strelet was dismissed on October 29, which fell on a Thursday, by a no-confidence motion put forward by the parliamentary groups of the Party of Socialists and the Party of Communists, which was also supported by the Democratic MPs.
- The same day, in the same sitting of Parliament, the leader of the PDM Marian Lupu said the first round of negotiations on the formation of a new pro-European parliamentary majority would take place the next day, on October 30. He noted that starting with that Thursday evening, the PDM would invite the colleagues from the pro-European parties and unaffiliated MPs to negotiations.
- The next day, Head of Parliament Andrian Candu, in the talk show “Moldova live” on the public TV channel “Moldova 1”, said that a ruling pro-European alliance would be formed and a new Government would be voted in within three weeks so that a IMF mission could be invited to Chisinau at the end of November to sign a financing agreement with the Republic of Moldova. Three weeks ended on November 19.
- In the evening of November 9, 2015, Marian Lupu said that the official negotiations on the formation of a new government coalition were underway. The statements were made after a round of negotiations that also involved the leaders of the PL and PPEM.
- On November 9, President Nicolae Timofti initiated negotiations with the parliamentary groups with a view to designating a candidate for premiership. The Socialists refused to attend them, while the Lib-Dems said they would take part in the formation of a new Government only if the PDM fulfilled a number of preconditions. The consultations didn’t yet produce the expected result. Immediately after the meeting, the leader of the PL Mihai Ghimpu said that they cannot speak about a candidate for Prime Minister until there is no parliamentary majority.
- After the November 9 consultations, the leader of the PDM Marian Lupu said: “Next week we will be able to propose the head of state a candidate for premiership, accepted by those who will form the parliamentary majority.”
- After the rerun consultations with President Nicolae Timofti of November 27, the leader of the PDM Marian Lupu announced a new time limit. He said that the Democratic parliamentary group will field a candidate for Premiership, who is to be supported by at least 51 MPs, by December 10. Two days before the given consultations, on November 25, Mihai Ghimpu said in Parliament that “the head of state should not hurry up the nomination of a candidate for premiership until there is no majority that could assume responsibility for forming and supporting the Government. We have yet time. The Constitution permits. I hope that we will reach an agreement in 5-10 days and will form a Government.” The deadline for forming the Government to which the leader of the PL referred was recently set by the Constitutional Court – January 28, 2016. If a new Government is not voted in by this date, the head of state is obliged to dissolve Parliament.
- The slow nature of the negotiations on the formation of a parliamentary majority and a new Government is not something new in Moldova.
- The longest negotiations to invest the executive held by the ruling parties were witnessed after the crisis generated by the scandal related to the hunting accident in the Domneasca Forest of January 2013. Then, after the Filat Government 2 was dismissed by a no-confidence motion on March 8, 2013, the next Cabinet led by Iurie Leanca was invested in 80 days.
- The Leanca Government was followed the Gaburici Government. The negotiations to form a new Cabinet, of the intersection of the years 2014-2015, ended with the investiture of a minority Government, which didn’t enjoy enough support in Parliament. Two months of negotiations preceded the formation of the Gaburici Government that was functional for only four months.
- The Strelet Government was invested on July 30, 2015, even if the previous Cabinet headed by Chiril Gaburici resigned on June 16. The negotiations to form a parliamentary coalition were then launched at the beginning of July. A period of a month and a half was needed for reaching an agreement to vote in a new Government, which was dismissed in three months.
- During six years, since September 25, 2009 until now, the Republic of Moldova had five Governments, two of which were dismissed by no-confidence motions. To form all these Governments, the political parties needed eight months of negotiations. After a month of the dismissal of the last executive, the politicians say they still hold negotiations to designate the future Prime Minister.
According to particular calculations, based on the behavior of the real and potential participants in the talks, the process to form a parliamentary majority and a Government can last up to the deadline stipulated in the Constitution. This means almost a year lost. One year of six lost. In the period, the country hasn’t been governed and other things happened in the country meanwhile…
