Voronin says head of state will be elected if AEI is liquidated and new government is formed

The liquidation of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), creation of a new political majority and formation of a new government – these are the conditions imposed by the Communist Party for taking part in the new presidential elections, the party’s leader Vladimir Voronin said on December 21. “Only such an approach will enable us not only to avoid the early elections, but also to save the country from this occupational regime and the current rulers from the people’s fury that may soon strike them,” Voronin said in a news conference. According to Vladimir Voronin, among the first measures that the new government must take are to review the entire energy policy, annul the unfounded tariffs for public utilities, increase the pensions by 20%, reduce the tuition fees in universities, and to annihilate the organized crime and mafia in the state bodies. The Communist leader said his party will not vote for Marian Lupu for the post of President and reiterated the necessity of identifying a compromise, apolitical candidate. He stressed he was in favor of a center-left coalition with the Democratic Party. As to the presidential elections, Voronin said that the head of state will not be elected owing to the divergent interests existing inside the ruling alliance and that Vlad Filat would like to hold this post. “Filat would vote only for him for the post of President,” he stated, adding the PCRM would win a majority of seats in Parliament in the possible early elections. In another development, the leader of the Communist Party denied Marian Lupu’s assertion that the Communist MPs were held by force during the December 16 elections so that they do not take part in them. He admitted that he had a series of discussions with one of the persons close to Evgheny Shevchuk, who is running for the post of leader of the Transnistrian region. One of these discussions was published on Transnistrian portals. The new presidential elections must take place by the middle of January. The December 16 ordinary elections failed, Marian Lupu polling only 58 votes of the 61 needed.