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The Christian Democratic People’s Party (PPCD) on Monday has asked the Constitutional Court for a recount of the ballots cast in the July 29 parliamentary elections, citing “possible severe violations of the electoral legislation perpetrated by electoral competitors and authorities in the campaign”. The party said in a press release it “expresses its disagreement with the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections on July 29, 2009, and, in conformity with the Election Code, asks the Constitutional Court to order the recount of ballots prior to validating the elections”. The PPCD, however, failed to mention what “possible severe violations” it meant. (Info-Prim Neo)

The leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM), the Liberal Party (PL) and the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM) decided to form an alliance in the new Parliament on August 2 evening. The Chairman of the Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN) was abroad, but he confirmed his participation over the phone. Shortly before, the leaders of the four parties announced they take a break for the weekend, but on Sunday in the afternoon met at a restaurant outside Chisinau to continue the talks over the formation of a democratic government. The leaders of the Democratic parties said that the talks will continue and that they have not yet distributed the state governing positions. Earlier, the PLDM, PL and AMN ruled out the possibility of making any kind of alliance with the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM), while the PDM leader, Marian Lupu said that he does not accept a bilateral cooperation with the PCRM. The leaders of the three parties do not rule out the possibility that a remarkable personality from outside of the political parties can become the chief of state. (Info-Prim Neo)

PDM leader Marian Lupu presumes the four democratic parties, which have won 53 seats in the 101-member Parliament of Moldova, will eventually manage to find in the parliamentary Communist faction the 8 votes necessary for electing a new president for Moldova. He stated in an interview with Reuters that the Party of Communists (PCRM) is not so monolith or mighty as many people believe, and its existence has been largely based on repressive measures and fear. The former Speaker of Parliament said that if the democratic parties fail to form a majority, the republic will find itself in the vicious circle of a political crisis, which will necessitate the holding of a new parliamentary election in the early 2010. Marian Lupu voiced hope the parliamentary democratic parties will eventually achieve a joint decision based on an understanding of national interests. (Infotag)

The deputy Chairwoman of the Liberal Party (PL), Corina Fusu has declared that for PL the “most appropriate” scenario for sharing out the ruling positions in the state is — Marian Lupu — chief of state, Vlad Filat — prime-minister, and Mihai Ghimpu — Chairman of the Parliament. At the same time, Serafim Urecheanu is proposed the office of Deputy Speaker. However, this scenario is not the final one. Another scenario is: Lupu — Chief of state, Filat — Speaker, and Ghimpu — Prime-minister. (stireazilei.md)

The Chisinau opposition now has the chance to offer the Moldovan president the possibility of leaving politics instead of penal immunity, writes the Romanian newspaper “Evenimentul Zilei”. Viorel Ursu, an analyst with the Open Society Institute from Brussels, considers that the future right-wing government from Chisinau could negotiate with the Party of Communists (PCRM) the withdrawal of Vladimir Voronin from politics, offering him penal immunity instead. “We saw similar situations in Russia when Boris Yeltsin retired, or in Georgia, when Eduard Shevardnadze did, those two authoritarian presidents obtained informal immunity as to the law,” the analyst maintains. The publication writes that the first official sign about the possible switching of the PCRM to opposition has already been given. The author refers to the communiqué of July 31 issued by the party, in which the PCRM Chairman, Vladimir Voronin, maintains that “in case a Liberal, right-wing coalition is created with the participation of radical-extremist forces, the PCRM will switch to responsible opposition.” (Info-Prim Neo)

The League for Defense of Human Rights of Moldova (LADOM) says that the July 29 early legislative elections were partially free and partially fair. LADOM made the assessments on the basis of the negative trends and electoral violations identified by the League’s observers. The elections were partially fair because the electoral lists were inaccurate, there were more voters than the number of ballots allotted, ballot papers were brought from outside etc. They were also partially free as the access to polling stations of the Moldovan voters from the left bank of the Nistru, of the students and of the Moldovans that are abroad was limited, LADOM said. The League’s report on the monitoring of the voting process was presented at a news conference on Saturday, August 1. The president of LADOM Paul Strutzescu said that the people showed increased interest and actively participated in the July 29 elections, despite the erected barriers — holding of the elections on a workday, lack of conditions for facilitating the right to vote of the students, Moldovan voters abroad and Transnistrian voters. According to Paul Strutzescu, the number of irregularities at the July 29 elections was larger than at the April 5 elections, but the final decision on validation of the elections will be made by the Constitutional Court. Strutzescu said that the most frequent irregularities identified by the LADOM observers and reported through the hotline by voters concerned the inaccurate electoral rolls. Strutzescu stressed that the votes in some polling stations might be recounted if the League’s observations are approved. (Info-Prim Neo)

The EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, the EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the Swedish presidency of the EU made statements about Moldova’s July 29 early parliamentary elections on July 30 and 31. The European officials welcomed the fact that the legislative elections in Moldova met the international standards and called on the Moldovan political leaders to make effort to elect the new head of state and to form a government coalition. The European Union expressed readiness to assist Moldova in overcoming the major political and economic problems it is facing. (Info-Prim Neo)

The Ecological Party of Moldova “Alianta Verde (Green Alliance)” (PEAVM) called upon the Communists that will enter the future Parliament to choose the president of Moldova. At a news conference on Monday, the party’s secretary Andrei Dumbraveanu said that the victory of the four Democratic parties — the PLDM, PL, PDM and AMN — is fragile. “These parties can build a democratic state, but the major problem is the election of the head of state. We hope that the Communist MPs who have progressive views and do not live with the past will take part in the vote,” Dumbraveanu said. A part of the votes polled by the PEAVM that did not pass the election threshold, were redistributed to the PCRM. (Info-Prim Neo)

The Moldovan Party of Communists stands ready for a dialogue with its opponents in parliament “to consider proposals aimed at the consolidation of stability, national sovereignty and independence of Moldova”. But PCRM may well go into the opposition if doe not manage to form a coalition with other parties. This decision was taken on the meeting of the PCRM activists, who gathered in Chisinau last weekend to draw up parliamentary election results. The PCRM Chairman, Vladimir Voronin stated that we (PCRM) may go into a responsible opposition in case the radical extremist forces form a liberal coalition, because it is impossible to otherwise oppose to scenarios of ruining the national economy, social sphere and the very statehood of Moldova’s. Local experts are pointing out that with such a statement the PCRM meant its readiness to form a coalition with 3 out of 4 opposition parties, but not with the Liberal Party, whom the Communists regard as an extremist one. (Infotag)

Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister, and leader of the Christian Democratic People’s Party Iurie Rosca presumes that the four parliamentary opposition parties — the PLDM, PL, PDM, and AMN — should agree to a dialog with the Party of Communists (PCRM), if they really care about the interests of the Moldovan society. According to Rosca all the five political parties that have won seats in the new Moldovan Parliament should start forming a broad national coalition for the sake of avoiding social conflicts in the country; otherwise a new election will be “a catastrophe for the Republic of Moldova…”. In his words, only one of the four opposition parties may reject the idea of forming a broad coalition with the Party of Communists. Rosca hinted he meant the Liberal Party. (Infotag)

After the snap parliamentary elections, 17 members of the Parliament of the 18th legislature hold double citizenship or submitted documents to obtain it. The PL has the most of MPs holding double citizenship — 8. It is followed by the PLDM — 5 MPs, the AMN — 2 MPs and the PCRM — 1 Member of Parliament. (Omega)