WASHINGTON -- Today's announcement of the resignation of the Democratic Party-backed government of former Prime Minister Pavel Filip, which for the past week has resisted the establishment of a new coalition government led by pro-European ACUM bloc chairwoman Maia Sandu, may signal that a complex political crisis is coming to an end in Moldova.
It is the latest development in a period of constitutional crisis and dual power, that began in Moldova on June 8, featuring one government backed by parliament and another backed by the Constitutional Court. The crisis is the result of inconclusive parliamentary elections in February that resulted in a three-way struggle for power in the parliament between the pro-Russia Socialist Party, whose de facto leader is President Igor Dodon; the pro-European ACUM alliance, led by former World Bank adviser and education minister Maia Sandu; and the ruling Democratic Party, controlled by oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc.
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What’s next:
- Some observers fear violence this weekend, after the Sandu-led Socialist-ACUM coalition called on supporters to rally on June 16 in downtown Chisinau. Protesters who’ve set up a tent city in the city center could compound the risk of provocations and clashes.
- A Venice Commission opinion over the Constitutional Court’s authority and the legitimacy of its recent rulings, expected on June 21, could affect the deadlock, favoring the parliamentary supported government and emboldening the international community to support it.
RFE/RL's Moldovan Service has been providing its audiences comprehensive coverage of the crisis.
RFE/RL journalists are available for comment.
- Oana Serafim, Moldovan Service Director (in Prague; English, Romanian, French)
serafimo@rferl.org -- ph: +420.221.123.041 -- Facebook: europalibera.org - Diana Raileanu, Moldovan Service correspondent (in Chisinau; English, Romanian)
raileand@rferl.org -- ph: +373.69.55.24.09 -- Facebook: railean - Victoria Colesnic, RFE/RL Fellow (in Prague; English, Romanian, Russian, French)
colesnicv-fellow@rferl.org -- - Vasile Botnaru, Moldovan Service Bureau Chief (in Chisinau; Romanian, Russian)
botnaruv@rferl.org -- ph: +420.221.121.207
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