Two rival governments in Moldova
For the past few days the Republic of Moldova has had two governments and two presidents. Following the results of the February elections a new government has been formed comprising the pro-European Acum party and the pro-Russian Socialists. But the former government of oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc is refusing to step down and has the Constitutional Court on its side. Commentators examine what is at stake here.
A shock for the experts
Ukrinform describes what a surprising development the formation of the new government was:
“On the morning of 8 June journalists were informed at an urgent meeting of the parliament about the building of a temporary coalition between the Socialist Party and the political bloc Acum. For the overwhelming majority of politicians and experts this came as a shock. No one had expected such a coalition between ideologically opposed parties. ... The willingness of the parliament's technical staff to cooperate was an important factor for Maia Sandu's new government. ... The parliament is now fully functional.”
In the end the Socialists will win
Michał Potocki of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna sees the danger of Russia interfering in the current situation:
“I asked a member of parliament from the Acum party whether he is worried about a scenario in which after the government falls the Socialists, who have more financial and political resources, will take over. He conceded that such a risk exists but said that 'Plahotniuc must go first, then we'll defend ourselves against Russia'. My dialogue partner expects the Socialists to accept the reality of the situation and despite all the rhetoric not push for stronger ties with the Kremlin. Wishful thinking works sometimes, but I fear that that won't be the case here.”
The East beckons
Hotnews believes the country has already decided to strengthen its ties with Russia:
“The elections, including the ones in February 2019 which preceded the current government crisis, were always dominated by a single question: will the country orient itself towards the West or the East? The Republic of Moldova is a small country that is suffering from a huge amount of emigration to Romania and Western Europe. Russia has enormous possibilities to exert influence in the country. In addition, at the international level too we currently see a weakening of Western influence in various places such as Syria or Venezuela, where Russia and China dominate. The transatlantic rifts have increased and the EU is being shaken by internal crises. ... Under these conditions the Republic of Moldova is leaning more and more towards the East.”