Moldova's new centre-right coalition mirrors old one

Jan 19, 2011, 13:48 GMT

Chisinau/Kiev - A centre-right ruling coalition was formally announced in Moldova on Wednesday that keeps the country's top jobs unchanged.

The three-party group will put forward Democratic Party head Marian Lupu for the post of president, while Liberal Party boss Mihai Gimpu will be nominated as parliament speaker, the Infotag news agency reported.

Vladimir Filat, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, took the oath of office as prime minister last week.

Gimpu and Filat held the same posts during the previous parliament, which was dissolved for early elections in October. Lupu has been acting president.

Called the Alliance For European Integration, the ruling coalition will focus first on naming a cabinet and then on pushing Lupu's candidacy as president through parliament, according to news reports.

An initial meeting of proposed cabinet chiefs was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, the IA Novosti news agency reported.

Further cooperation on legislation and government policy will be based on a 'system of unanimous agreement' between the party leaders, IA Novosti said.

The alliance said that it will maintain a non-confrontational stance towards Russia and support 'a neutral status for Moldova ... only until the Transdniestria question is resolved,' Moldnews reported.

Moldova's Transdniestria province seceded after a civil war that ended in 1992. Russian troops remain in the region, and the Kremlin is sensitive to calls by Chisinau for the soldiers to leave.

Moldova's last parliament was hung and was ultimately dissolved because the ruling coalition lacked the necessary 61 votes in the 101-seat legislature to get Lupu elected president.

The ruling coalition currently controls 59 seats in parliament. The Communists, who governed Moldova for nearly a decade until 2009, have 32 seats, the largest number of any one party.

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