Thousands of people gathered in a protest staged by newly elected pro-European President Maija Sandu in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, on Sunday, December 6, demanding the resignation of the government and new parliamentary elections.
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More than 20,000 people gathered near the parliament building, according to a correspondent of the news agency AFP.
Addressing the participants, the newly elected President accused the former pro-Russian head of state Igor Dodon of trying to provoke chaos in the country.
“Igor Dodon does not want to admit his defeat. He now wants to set the country on fire, provoke chaos, drive Moldova into international isolation. He uses thieves and corrupt members of parliament for this,” the newly elected president said.
“Unfortunately, there are not 51 strong deputies in the parliament who would take care of the state and its citizens, so we need to achieve the immediate dismissal of the parliament and new elections. This must be done with the resignation of the government,” Sandu said.
“We have been fighting thieves and bandits for many years and we will overthrow them,” the winner of the presidential election told supporters.
Commenting on the situation in parliament, Sandu said that “Dodon has teamed up with thief Ilan Shore to continue stealing and robbing us. We must not allow this.”
Dodon’s Socialists and oligarch Shore’s party, together with some independent MEPs who have left the Democratic Party, have now formed a majority in Parliament.
This parliamentary majority has made a number of shifts in the chairmanship of the legislature and in the commissions, as well as passed a number of dubious laws in violation of the statutory procedure.
The participants in the Chisinau protest on Sunday passed a resolution demanding the resignation of the government and the holding of new elections.
In the second round of the presidential election in Moldova on 15 November, pro-European opposition candidate Sandu defeated the former pro-Russian head of state, Dodon.
Parliament, for its part, passed a bill on Thursday that would limit the powers of the newly elected president.
The bill provides for the transfer of control of the intelligence agency – the Moldovan Information and Security Service – from the president to parliament.
It is planned that Sandu will take the oath of office at the end of December.
More than 5,000 people protested against the bill at a parliament in Chisinau on Thursday.
Sandu and her supporters believe the bill aims to limit the president’s powers before Sandu takes office and strengthen the parliamentary powers dominated by Dodon’s supporters.
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