European Forum

Marian Lupu to head Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM)

Former Moldovan parliamentary speaker Marian Lupu, having recently quit the ruling Communist Party (PCRM), has announced his decision to accept the offer of the DPM to top its list in the upcoming early parliamentary elections of July 29th.

DPM leader Dmitru Diacov has also conceded his post to Lupu, saying “it's time that a fresh generation of politicians, new, unstained, intelligent, responsible and reasonable people come to the party with solutions for the future of the country”. Lupu will be joined by Igor Corman - a former Ambassador recently recalled from Germany - as the party's vice president and ex-economy minister Valeriu Lazar who was elected General Secretary of DPM. Oleg Tulea was elected as vice president and will be responsible for the international relations of the party.

As many opposition parties had tried to get Lupu on their side, he explained his decision by saying that he accepted Diacov's offer because “it's the only party that demonstrated political maturity and transparency and is ready for a generation change”.

Marian Lupu enjoys great popularity in the country, and experts expect that his departure is undoubtedly a loss for the governing party, which may take away 10-15% votes from the PCRM at the approaching elections. Interestingly, in the run-up to the 2009 parliamentary elections, the Moldovan Party of Communists leadership claimed that in case of victory, Marian Lupu would be elected President of Moldova. Later, however, the Communists nominated Prime Minister Zinaida Grechanaya as their candidate for presidency.

Lupu announced that DPM will propose its own candidates for presidency, parliament speaker and prime minister, and those candidacies will not be subject to negotiation with either right or left wing parties. “It's their choice to accept them or not”, he declared.

The DPM announced that no changes in the center-left and social-democratic views of the party will be made with Lupu's coming. The Democratic Party will continue to work in the direction of unifying center left parties and building a strong social democratic party with European orientation.

Sources: DPM International secretariate; photo: www.infomarket.md