Moldova’s president designates lawmaker to form new gov’t
Jul 28, 2015, 2:48 AM
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova’s president has designated a lawmaker to form the next government, after the previous nominee failed to secure agreement from all parties in the pro-European alliance.
Late Monday, President Nicolae Timofte tasked Valeriu Strelet — a lawmaker for the Liberal Democratic Party since 2009 — with forming a government in the next 15 days.
The 45-year-old Strelet, a co-founder of the Liberal Democratic Party, owns one of the biggest fertilizer distribution companies in Moldova, a country of 4 million, located between Romania and Ukraine.
The unexpected development came after the party last week nominated Maia Sandu, an ex-World Bank economist.
Sandu wanted to change the governor of the central bank and the general prosecutor, but the other two coalition parties did not agree. The parties together hold 55 of 101 seats in Parliament.
Sandu said Tuesday she regretted that she could no longer carry out democratic reforms because the two coalition parties had “categorically refused to discuss with me.”
She had wanted a thorough inquiry into some $1.5 billion which disappeared from three Moldovan banks in November 2014, before elections. According to an unpublished parliament report, some of the money was transferred to Russian banks.
Moldova’s former prime minister resigned June 16 after a probe into the authenticity of his high school diploma and university degree.
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