European Forum

Tensions between Moldova coalition partners

On 5 August it has been announced that the leaders of the two (out of four) coalition partners may run against each other in the direct presidential elections. By doing so Prime Minister and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vlad Filat, and Democratic Party leader Marian Lupu could put at risk the pro-Western ruling coalition that last year ended a decade of Communist Party rule and brought the country closer to the EU.

On 5 September the voters in Moldova will be asked in a referendum whether they approve amending the constitution in order to make it possible to elect the next President by a nationwide popular vote. Until now, the parliament has elected the president. If voters say “yes” at the referendum, presidential and parliamentary elections will most likely be held on 14 November.

Filat stated on 3 August that he has not ruled out running for president arguing that the country needs a strong president “born out of political competition,” and not a president “made in a laboratory,” possibly referring to Lupu’s status as the compromise candidate of the four ruling parties. In a reaction Lupu — who has twice failed to be elected as president by the parliament — accused Filat of putting his personal ambition above national interest and “violating the principles” on which the ruling coalition is based and warned of unspecified “consequences.” Furthermore, he said that his Democratic Party, which some polls rate as the most popular of the four in the alliance, did not rule out a post-election alliance with “the center-left,” meaning that it could part company with its three center-right partners in the current government.

Lupu and Filat are seen by most analysts as the two strongest potential presidential candidates, especially after the Constitutional Court ruled that former President Vladimir Voronin, a popular veteran Communist, can not run in the fall election because he has already served two consecutive terms. If Filat becomes the next President the coalition could split up, after which he will try to strengthen the president’s powers.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Infotag