VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCH #0450/01 1631441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121441Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8045
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CHISINAU 000450 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MD
SUBJECT: Parliament Approves New Government - Lupu Quits Communist 
Party 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  At its June 10 session, the Parliament approved 
Prime Minister Zinaida Grecanii's list for interim cabinet.  The new 
cabinet is almost the same as the previous one.  Ex-Speaker Marian 
Lupu announced his departure from the Party of Communists (PCRM), 
which has the potential to weaken that party in the coming electoral 
round.  Lupu is negotiating with smaller centrist parties that did 
not receive sufficient votes to gain seats in the current 
parliament, and has not yet announced his plans.  Deputies discussed 
amendments to electoral procedures to resolve a legal contradiction 
between the mandated 45-day period to hold elections after the 
dissolution of Parliament and the required 60-day period for an 
electoral campaign.  Members of Parliament also reviewed amendments 
to the regulations on severance pay upon termination of a 
Parliament.  The Parliament will consider these bills in committee 
and vote when it reconvenes on June 12.  It is not clear yet whether 
Voronin will disband the Parliament at that time.  End summary. 
 
Interim Government Approved 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) At the June 10 session of Parliament, Prime Minister 
Greceanii presented her cabinet and her government's proposed work 
program, as required by law.  Her cabinet was roughly identical to 
the previous one, with only three changes.  Valentin Mejinschi was 
dropped as Deputy Prime Minister; Ioacob Timciuc replaced Valentin 
Guznac as Minister of Local Public Administration; and Mihai 
Barbulat assumed the vacant seat of Minister of Culture.  Greceanii 
presented the seven priorities of her new government, including 
integration into the EU, settlement of the Transnistria dispute and 
managing the economic crisis.  Following a tough 30-minute session 
of questions from opposition deputies, her cabinet was approved. 
 
Lupu Withdraws from Party of Communists 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) After hints in the press a week ago, former Parliamentary 
Speaker Marian Lupu formally announced that he was leaving the PCRM 
and its parliamentary faction.  In a closed meeting of the PCRM and 
a press conference before the parliamentary session opened, Lupu 
cited the PCRM's rigidity and the failure to launch a genuine 
dialogue among the reasons for his departure.  His prepared 
statement was also critical of the opposition parties, stating that 
the positions of all parliamentary forces had become rigid and 
dangerous.  He said that he would not participate in a campaign with 
messages of accusations and threats, and would not join either 
radical side.  Lupu is now negotiating with smaller centrist parties 
to find a base from which to run.  The assumption is that Lupu could 
be a unifying force for a group of smaller parties that would occupy 
a centrist position between the PCRM and opposition. 
 
Legal Issues for the Parliament to Resolve 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The current political crisis is unprecedented.  Presidents 
before Voronin were elected by direct popular vote, and it was only 
in 2001 that the parliamentary system was introduced.  The current 
situation thus poses some legal contradictions and has exposed some 
gaps in the law.  One such contradiction is the discrepancy between 
the constitutional requirement to hold repeat parliamentary 
elections within 45 days of the decree dissolving parliament and the 
electoral law requirement that the electoral campaign period be for 
60 days.  At the June 10 session, deputies discussed draft proposals 
for amending the law, and agreed to take this up in committee and 
vote when the Parliament reconvenes on June 12. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A similar sticky issue arose from the regulations that 
provide for six months of benefits for members of Parliament in an 
outgoing Parliament.   The law did not specify what should happen in 
the case of an early disbandment of Parliament.  Deputies determined 
that a Parliament which disbands at the end of its term will get 
three months of severance, while in the case of an early dissolution 
of Parliament the deputies will receive no such benefits. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) With Prime Minister Greceanii's cabinet confirmed, the GOM 
can formally function as a government until the next round of 
elections.  Lupu's departure from the PCRM has shifted the 
pre-electoral political picture in Moldova.  It has the potential to 
do some electoral damage to the Communists, and might shift the 
bipolar axis of confrontation in the parliament by introducing a 
third, centrist force.  It remains to be seen what party Lupu will 
align with, and whether he will be successful in pulling together 
several leaders of smaller parties such as Dumitru Diacov, Dumitru 
Braghis, and Vasile Tarlev into a larger centrist coalition. 
 
 
Chaudhry