Moldova's stability shaken

The Moldovan opposition is preparing to start the process to impeach President Igor Dodon. Such a loud statement was made by Vice President of DA faction Alexander Slusar. The reason was the demonstration of a video of Dodon's meeting with oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is wanted in the country. The meeting took place on June 7, 2019, shortly before the change of power in Moldova, and Plahotniuc, who ruled the country informally, left it. Then Dodon tried to agree with Plahotniuc on forming a coalition of the Party of Socialists and the Democratic Party.

According to the statement of opposition MP Yuri Renitse, who announced the video at the press conference, Plahotniuc and his assistant give a package of money to Dodon, and the president says that the money should be transferred to the MP from the Socialist Party, Corneliu Furculiţă, who "must pay salaries."

Igor Dodon confirmed that he held a meeting with Plahotniuc, but denied that he received any money. He said that he had appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office to conduct an investigation into the video recording compromising him.

According to the Constitution of Moldova, in the case of committing serious acts that violate the provisions of the country's Basic Law, the president can be removed from office by the parliament by a two-thirds vote. Such a proposal may be initiated by at least a third of the MPs and should be immediately brought to the attention of the president. The head of state may provide parliament with clarifications regarding the presented facts. Currently, the pro-presidential Party of Socialists has more than one third of the seats in parliament - 37 out of 101. If the initiative to impeach the president is approved, then a referendum on the president's resignation is initiated within 30 days.

"We will study this video in detail and, most likely, will initiate the process to impeach Dodon. We are waiting for the prosecutor to give an answer about these charges. But I repeat, after a technical analysis of the video, in accordance with the Constitution, we will take steps to impeach the president," Slusar told reporters.

In turn, Yuri Renitse is convinced that Dodon's political career is over, and they just need to act wisely. According to him, the video, apparently taken by a hidden camera by Plahotniuc's office; and it captures the moment of transferring money for payment to representatives of the Party of Socialists, there is even a transcript of the dialogue, which mentions a specific amount and specific names of deputies to receive it.

It is curious that Renitse's press conference was held at the same time with the press conference of Prosecutor General of Moldova Alexandru Stoianoglo, at which he said that the prosecutor’s office officially recognized oligarch Plahotniuc as the beneficiary of part of the money from the stolen billion dollars from the country's banking system.

On the eve of these events, a rally was held in Chisinau with the participation of Transnistria War veterans who arrived from different parts of the republic. The protesters demanded the creation of a state unit that will solve the problems of veterans, life-long free health insurance policies, increased benefits. As well as the resignation of President Igor Dodon and Prime Minister Ion Chicu.

The protests of Moldovan veterans of the Transnistrian conflict have already become a popular sign - they are usually followed by unrest and coups. And as a rule, they are supported by Russophobic parties. Moreover, the struggle against Russian influence is characteristic of the current political situation in Moldova.

The pro-Russian line prevailed four years ago when Igor Dodon was elected president. Last year, his Party of Socialists received the largest number of votes in parliamentary elections, and the right-wing parties were satisfied with the fact of presenting in parliament. But the socialists did not have enough mandates to form a parliamentary majority and government, so they were forced to form an alliance first with the right-wing ACUM bloc, and after its collapse, with deputies from the Democratic Party, which controlled the country until recently, and its leader - the mentioned oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc was called the "master of Moldova".

Now, taking into account what is happening in Chisinau, there's talk of Plahotniuc's return. They say, promoting instability is his doing. But the political participants in the events do not mention Plahotniuc. Thus, leader of the DA Platform Andrei Nastase, who is seeking power, said that Ion Chiku's government should be dissolved by voting, since it is completely subordinate to President Igor Dodon. "The pro-Russian government should be dissolved by democratic voting in order to fully and finally restore the power of the people, and not transfer it from one oligarchic group to another," Andrei Nastase said. He stated that it was only the state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic that forced the DA Platform to be restrained in its intention to "overthrow the government, even when it showed complete inability to provide real support to the people during the pandemic crisis.”

"Now it’s quite obvious that this government is nothing more than a structure completely subordinate to Igor Dodon," Andrei Nastase said, recalling that the DA Platform will initiate a vote of no confidence in Ion Chiku's government.

But President Dodon is not sitting idly. He mobilizes the heads of districts to express their support for Chiku's government in the main square of the Moldovan capital.