The leaders of the parliamentary groups of the Alliance for European Integration said they neither support nor reject the Communists’ candidate for the presidency. Ion Hadirca, Valeriu Strelet and Dumitru Diacov approved of Leonid Talmaci, who was proposed by the PCRM for the presidency, but will be able to give an answer to the opposition only after they hold discussions within the parties they represent and the AEI Council, Info-Prim Neo reports. The leader of the Liberal-Democratic faction Valeriu Strelet said that Leonid Talmaci is a well-known person. “There are also other personalities who announced their intention to run in the elections. Immediately after the meeting of the AEI Council, we will discuss the candidates with the opposition. We must be prudent so as not to enter another process of tension and crisis with the President elected,” he stated, adding that there may be other candidates as well, including of the AEI. “The first meeting centered on the criteria for selecting candidates. This time we discussed neither the criteria, nor solutions and this alarms me. We must discuss the government program with the proposed candidate to see if he does not intend to change the country’s geopolitical vector. It is now too early to talk about this,” said the head of the Liberal faction Ion Hadirca. The chairman of the Democratic faction Dumitru Diacov said the January 9 meeting focused on the principles on the basis of which the opposition could take part in the elections. “The Communists said they want the government coalition to be re-formed and then will consider candidates. Now they proposed Talmaci and said the re-formation will be discussed later. We all know who Leonid Talmaci is and approve of his professionalism, but it is not excluded that the parties may field their own candidates. We did not pledge to vote for the opposition’s candidate,” said Dumitru Diacov. The presidential elections were set for January 15. The deadline for submitting applications is January 12. Oazu Nantoi put himself forward for the presidency, while the Communist Party suggested Leonid Talmaci.