Moldova's new parliament to elect speaker on 12 May
Moldova's new parliament will elect its speaker and working bodies on 12 May. A decision to this effect was taken at the first meeting of the parliament of 17th convocation held at the Palace of Republic today and which, contrary to expectations, lasted for less than half an hour.
The meeting was chaired by 74-year-old Communist MP Ivan Calin, who is the oldest of all 101 deputies. In his speech, Calin invited deputies to reach compromise and political dialogue.
"No early election is needed in the current situation and given the present economic, social and political conditions. Authors of this idea should bear in mind that an early election would be detrimental to everyone," Calin said.
He believes that "the situation in parliament allows discussing all problems in a civilized manner".
"The political configuration has been established by voters. Personally, I consider the structure of parliament as very successful. There is! a stable majority capable of efficiently solving problems. But cooperation with the opposition is needed to elect the president or make changes to the Constitution. This is normal. I am confident that all 101 MPs realize this and will work for the benefit of the nation and the country," Calin said.
He refused to give the floor to the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, Mihai Ghimpu, saying that "this is not stipulated by parliament's regulation". Calin said that deputies have to form parliamentary factions, the permanent bureau of parliament and its working bodies. He also said that deputies need time for this and proposed holding the next parliamentary session on 12 May. Deputies did not even vote for this decision, but stood up and left the hall.
Infotag's note: At the 5 April parliamentary election, the Communist Party got about 50 per cent of the votes and 60 out of 101 mandates. This is enough to elect the speaker and the government, but not the presid! ent, for which 61 votes are needed.
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