Prospects of Moldova’s New PM Designate

In Chisinau, the PM designate Ion Sturza announced he would request Parliaments vote of confidence on January 4.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on null in /home/web/rri.ro/public/wp-content/themes/rri/template-parts/content.php on line 98
Valentin Țigău, 29.12.2015, 13:55

The Prime Minister designate of the Republic of Moldova, Ion Sturza, announced on Monday that on January 2, 2016 he would present his governing programme and the members of the new cabinet, and on January 4 he would request Parliaments vote of confidence. Meanwhile, consultations will carry on with a view to drawing up the governing programme and selecting the members of the new government, made up of members without political affiliation, as PM Sturza intends.

The list of the new ministers will be ready on Saturday, and on Sunday the new government team will sign a declaration of integrity. According to Radio Chisinau, a new political entity has been formed in the Moldovan Parliament, made up of 34 out of the total 101 Deputies. The Social Democratic Platform “Pentru Moldova (For Moldova), made up of MPs that have left the pro-Russian Communists Party and the Democratic Party, a former partner of the centre and right-wing forces in the pro-European Alliance that was previously in power, is expected to make its own nomination for the PM post.

Ion Sturza was designated PM on December 21, by the head of state Nicolae Timofti. He had meetings with the MPs of the Liberal-Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the European Peoples Party, all of them pro-European entities, whereas the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party declined meeting the new PM designate, announcing they would not support his candidacy.

The political situation of the Republic of Moldova remains uncertain, given that the Sturza Cabinet does not yet have the votes of a parliamentary majority. Unless it endorses a new government by January 29, the Parliament of Moldova will be dissolved and early elections will be held. The protracted political crisis will implicitly deepen the economic crisis.

Experts estimate that the former Soviet republic will continue to struggle with the effects of this years recession in 2016 as well, considering that the economy is running out of resources, and it suffers from the extended Russian trade restrictions, from the absence of well-coordinated trade policies and from the deterioration of the investment climate.

Promoting reforms is another stumbling block, for a country without a stable government and a parliamentary majority willing to support such a programme. As such, political analysts are reserved as regards the prospects of Sturzas pro-European cabinet, and believe the more likely path is for the left-of-centre forces to regroup and form a new majority, more to Moscows liking and with better chances of success.