Parliament invalidates November 18 elections

The legislature invalidated the November 18 presidential elections and is to set a new date for the elections, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the head of the legal commission for appointments and immunities Victor Popa, the elections were invalidated because no candidate for the presidency was registered. Until a new date for the elections is set, amendments should be made to the legislation so as to decide what happens when no candidate is fielded. The Communist MPs proposed that the presidential elections should be held on December 15, but the ruling alliance did not accept their proposal. The chairman of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu said the head of state should be voted in by December 25, when Christmas is celebrated according to the new calendar, while the head of the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group Valeriu Strelet considers they should wait for the start of the spring-summer session. “The process should be launched when there are all the necessary preconditions. We should not hurry,” he stated. According to him, a possible special sitting for electing the head of state would be justified in the second half of January or the beginning of February. As to the Liberal leader’s proposal, Valeriu Strelet said that Mihai Ghimpu can insist on this if he wants early legislative elections at all costs. “Unlike Mister Ghimpu, we made effort to create preconditions and to discuss, not only with the Dodon group, but also with the parliamentary opposition,” he said. The talks to identify a candidate for the presidency failed. The ruling alliance proposed Marian Lupu, while the Dodon group - Zinaida Greceanyi. The head of state is elected by at least 61 votes. The alliance has 59 votes, together with the vote of the unaffiliated MP Mihai Godea.