Moldovan government approved; opposition storming the parliament

The Moldovan parliament approved by 57 votes the cabinet led by Pavel Filip. The extraordinary session held tonight lasted for 30 minutes only. As the chair of the Democratic Party of Moldova proposed, the government was approved without questions or statements.

The Socialist faction led by Igor Dodon, Communists led by Vladimir Voronin, several Liberal Demoсrats and independent MPs opposed the government.

After refusing to participate in the session, MPs from the Socialist Party came to the rostrum carrying banners and blocked it not allowing Pavel Filip to present his program. They were calling for early elections.

The Socialist MPs will further insist on early elections, MP Vlad Batrincea said after the session. He claimed that an illegal thing took place in the parliament, and approving the government was illegal, as the parliamentary majority even did not get to know Filip’s action plan.

Opposition supporters started picketing the parliament. About 1,000 protesters are calling the MPs to abandon the idea of voting for the Cabinet.

Part of the picketers tried to burst into the building, but police did let them in.

One of Demnitate şi Adevăr (Dignity and Truth) Civil Platform leaders, Andrei Năstase, called the demonstrators to surround the parliament and not let the MPs out.

It should be noted, Filip’s candidature was submitted by the parliamentary majority of 56 MPs. On January 15, President Nicolae Timofti appointed acting minister for information technologies and communications, member of the Democratic Party Pavel Filip as prime minister. After that, opposition forces held mass protest actions in Chisinau last weekend. The Socialists, Our Party and Dignity and Truth platform insist upon dissolving the parliament and holding early elections.