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Alliance for European Integration

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Alliance for European Integration
FormationAugust 8, 2009; 14 years ago (2009-08-08)
TypeRuling Coalition
PurposeGoverning in Moldova
HeadquartersChişinău
Membership
Liberal Dem. Party
Liberal Party
Democratic Party
Our Moldova Alliance
Official language
Romanian
Key people
Vlad Filat
Mihai Ghimpu
Marian Lupu
Serafim Urechean
WebsitePLDM,PL,PDM,AMN
Filat (PLDM), Prime Minister
Ghimpu (PL), Speaker and acting president
File:Marian Lupu cutout.jpg
Lupu (PDM), presidential candidate

The Alliance for European Integration is the ruling coalition in Moldova after the July 2009 election.

The overall context

After April 2009 election and the civil unrest, the climate in Moldova became very polarized.[1] The parliament failed to elect a new president. For this reason, the parliament was dissolved and snap elections were held. The July 29 polls were won by the Communist Party with 44.7% of the vote. That gave the former ruling party 48 MPs, and the remaining 53 seats in the 101-member chamber went to four opposition parties. 51 votes are needed to elect the speaker and prime minister, and 61 votes to elect the president.

Membership

Opposition has 48 seats
18
15
13
7
PCRM
PLDM
PL
PDM
AMN

The alliance was formed by the following parties: Liberal Democratic Party (18 seats), Liberal Party (15 seats), Democratic Party (13 seats), and Our Moldova Alliance (7 seats). On August 8, 2009, the four Moldovan parties agreed to create a governing coalition that pushed the Communist party into opposition; the Communists had been in government since 2001. The name of the coalition is the "Alliance for European Integration".

The Goals of the Alliance

The leaders of the four parties – Vlad Filat, Mihai Ghimpu, Marian Lupu, and Serafim Urechean – signed the 22-point declaration of the Alliance in a news conference on Saturday, August 8, 2009.

The Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, Democratic Party, and Our Moldova Alliance have committed themselves to achieving such goals as overcoming the social and economic crisis and ensuring economic growth, reintegrating territories, European integration and promoting a balanced, consistent and responsible foreign policy. The coalition said it wants an association agreement with the European Union. Also, the coalition said it wants strategic relations with both Russia and the United States.

In a press conference on October 21, 2009, Iurie Leancă announced that official negotiations on the association agreement Moldova-EU will start on January 12, 2010.

Commission for constitutional reform in Moldova is a commission instituted on December 1, 2009 by acting President Ghimpu to adopt a new version of the Constitution of Moldova (1994).

On January 14, 2010 President Mihai Ghimpu instituted the Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova for studying and formulating a historic assessment of the totalitarian communist regime.

Moldovan Parliament

The first session of Moldova's parliament has been scheduled for August 28, one day short of the deadline for the body to convene.

On August 28, 2009, Mihai Ghimpu was elected as the Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, through secret voting, getting all 53 votes of the Alliance For European Integration.[2][3]

Mihai Ghimpu on August 28, 2009: "I thank my colleagues for their trust. I hope that while in this post I will cooperate for a free press, independent legal system, and a state of law of which all the Moldovan citizens will be proud."[4]

Political forces Seats Moldovan Parliament seats after July 2009 polls
Alliance for European Integration (right-wing) 53                                                                                                          
Party of Communists (left-wing) 48                                                                                                          

Prime Minister of Moldova

Constitutional Court of Moldova confirmed earlier on September 17, 2009 the legitimacy of Mihai Ghimpu's position as acting president, which gave him the right to nominate a prime minister. In the same day, Ghimpu signed a decree nominating Filat for the office of prime minister. Earlier on Sept. 17, the parliament approved a new government structure; according to the draft structure, the number of ministries remains unchanged at 16 but their names and responsibilities have been changed.

The Alliance cabinet of Vlad Filat took office after winning the approval of parliament on September 25, 2009.[5] [6] Filat said that his first official visit as premier will be made to Brussels. He added that the agenda of the first official meetings will include visits to Paris, Berlin, Bucharest, and Kiev.[7]

President of Moldova

On September 11, 2009, Mihai Ghimpu became the acting president of Moldova.[8] The interim position was possible following the resignation of Moldovan President, Vladimir Voronin, announced in the morning of 11th of September 2009 on the public broadcaster Moldova 1.[9]

The resignation letter was sent to the Parliament secretariat and by a vote of 52 deputies in the plenary session of the legislature was declared vacant the post of the President of the Republic of Moldova. Therefore, in accordance with Article 91 of the Constitution of 1994, which provides that "the responsibility of the office shall devolve ad interim on the President of Parliament or the Prime Minister, in that priority order", Mihai Ghimpu becomes the interim President of the Republic of Moldova until a new president will be elected by the Parliament.

One of the goals of the Alliance is to elect the new president. The candidate of the Alliance is Marian Lupu.

The four parties need to elect a new president which will be impossible without having the support of at least 8 Communist MPs. The Communists can decide to block the election of the new president, which will mean that Vladimir Voronin (who resigned on September 11 and Mihai Ghimpu took over as interim) will stay on as acting president until new (early) elections next year.

The critics close to the Communists said that the new coalition was in fact a resurrection of the former Alliance for Democracy and Reforms, which had failed in its attempt to rule.[10] After 1999, the Party of Communists used very successfully the incoherent activity of the Alliance for Democracy and Reforms for the discreditation of any form of political coalition formed without Communists.

Soviet Occupation Day

Mihai Ghimpu, interim president of Moldova in 2010 has decreed June 28 as the Soviet Occupation Day[11][12] to remember the Soviet occupation on June 28, 1940[13] The move was met with disapproval and calls for the decree's revocation inside the ruling coalition, and calls for Ghimpu's resignation among the opposition parties. Dorin Chirtoacă, mayor of Chişinău and member of the same party as Ghimpu, ordered the erection of a memorial stone in the National Assembly Square, in front of the parliament building, where a Lenin monument used to stand.[14] The members of the coalitions argued that the time has not come for such a decree and that it would only help the communists win more votes.[15] The Academy of Sciences of Moldova declared that "in the view of recent disagreements regarding June 28, 1940 [...] we must take action and inform the public opinion about the academic community views". The Academy declared that: Archival documents and historical research of international experts shows that the annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina was designed and built by Soviet Command as a military occupation of these territories. Ordinance of Interim President Michael Ghimpu reflects, in principle, the historical truth.[16] But the Constitutional Court cancelled Ghimpu's decree on July 12, 2010.[17][18] The Soviet Occupation Day is observed in Latvia to recall the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940[19][20] and on July 21, 2010 Georgia follows the example and declared February 25 Soviet Occupation Day.[21][22]

References

  1. ^ The New York Times, A Polarized Moldova Votes, Mindful of West and Russia, July 29, 2009
  2. ^ Politicom.Moldova.org: Moldovan Pro-Western coalition elects new speaker of the parliament
  3. ^ New York Times: Moldova Elects New Speaker After Communist Walk – Out
  4. ^ Azi.md: Mihai Ghimpu elected Speaker
  5. ^ Moldova gets new pro-Western PM
  6. ^ Moldova Gets Government, Eyes Integration In Europe
  7. ^ Bucharest on the agenda of Vlad Filat’s first official visits
  8. ^ ITAR-TASS: Mihai Ghimpu appointed Moldovan acting president
  9. ^ HotNews.ro: Moldova's President announced his resignation
  10. ^ Xinhua, Moldova's four pro-western parties set up governing coalition, August 8, 2009
  11. ^ Vladimir Socor, Moldovan Government Chickens out of Historical Assessment of Communism
  12. ^ În fiecare an, pe 28 iunie, Moldova va comemora Ziua ocupaţiei sovietice şi victimele regimului totalitar comunist
  13. ^ Vladimir Socor, Russia Defends Soviet Occupation of Moldova
  14. ^ Primăria a instalat în faţa Guvernului o piatră în memoria victimelor regimului comunist
  15. ^ http://www.jurnaltv.md/ro/news/28-iunie-zi-de-ocupatie-sovietica-114081/#
  16. ^ http://unimedia.md/?mod=news&id=20961
  17. ^ Moldovan Leader: Court Ruling Against 'Soviet Occupation Day' Was Political
  18. ^ Moldpres, Moldovan top court says presidential decree on Day of Soviet Occupation unlawful
  19. ^ Likums "Par svētku, atceres un atzīmējamām dienām"
  20. ^ 17. jūnijs – Latvijas Republikas okupācijas diena
  21. ^ Georgia declares February 25 Soviet Occupation Day
  22. ^ Georgia: Feb. 25 Declared 'Soviet Occupation Day'