Alliance Candidate Ghimpu Elected Speaker

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM MD
SUBJECT: Alliance Candidate Ghimpu Elected Speaker


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The first session of the
Parliament elected on July 29 convened on August

28. After the Party of Communists (PRCM)
temporary chair adjourned the session and the 48
PCRM deputies departed the hall, the 53 MPs of the
Alliance for European Integration (AIE) reconvened
and elected Liberal Party (PL) leader (and strong
anti-communist) Mihai Ghimpu as Speaker. In a
sign that the PCRM will accept the change in
political power, Ghimpu left Parliament in the
Speaker's limousine accompanied by an executive
branch security detail. Ghimpu's election, which
came as a surprise to most observers, represents a
major victory for the AIE, which demonstrated
decisively that it has regained political
momentum. End Summary.

PCRM-Chaired Session Opens, Quickly Closes
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2. (SBU) The first session of the new Parliament
began under the chairmanship of its oldest member,
the 74-year-old PCRM MP Ivan Calin. Following the
announcement by the head of the Constitutional
Court ruling legally constituting the legislature,
Calin declared that since ten days were required
to establish parliamentary bodies, Parliament was
adjourned until September 4. All 48 PCRM MPs then
quietly departed the hall.

But the AIE Elects Ghimpu Speaker
--------------


3. (SBU) At this point, the 53 AIE deputies, with
broad smiles, some back-slapping and gleeful
rubbing of hands declared a new session and
appointed their oldest member, the 60-year old Ion
Hadarca, as chair. The MPs quickly nominated
Ghimpu -- who called the PCRM withdrawal "a good
actIt should go on forever" Q for speaker.
Former Speaker, PCRM defector and Democrat Party
leader Marian Lupu praised Ghimpu, noting that he
(Lupu) too had been inexperienced when he started
as Speaker, and that Ghimpu had the necessary
capabilities. After deputies voted in private,
outnumbered two-to-one by media representatives
and nearly equaled by 40 members of the diplomatic
corps, some joked that the diplomats present were
acting as international observers of free and fair
elections that expressed the will and informed
choice of the MPs.


4. (SBU) At 12:51, Ghimpu was declared elected by
a vote of 53-0. Despite his reputation for
speaking at length in uncompromising tones, he
gave a short and reflective speech, thanking
voters for their support, irrespective of their
ethnic group, and pledging that the AIE would
construct the democratic state for which citizens
had voted.

Some Communist-Bashing after Election
--------------


5. (SBU) While Ghimpu made only a passing
reference to the "Communist dictatorship," several
of his colleagues in the AIE leadership sharply
criticized the PCRM, while also laying out their
platforms of an independent judiciary, a free
media, a strong civil society, local autonomy, and
good relations with all adjacent and near
neighbors. Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) leader
Filat announced that "today, we start to live,"
and denounced the security services for
persecuting PLDM members, and Voronin for his
"personal dictatorship." He also called on the
absent PCRM MPs to transfer power voluntarily
just as power had been transferred to the PCRM in

2001.


6. (SBU) PL's Deputy Chairman Dorin Chirtoaca (who
is also Mayor of Chisinau and Ghimpu's nephew)
noted the "tragedy of 2001," when the "dictatorial
regime" of Communists took power. He also
sarcastically noted that the July election
results, unfavorable as they were to the PCRM,
demonstrated the inefficiency of the government.
Our Moldova Alliance leader Serafim Urechean
stated his delight that Moldova was returning to a
state of normality, and condemned the "neo-
Bolshevik" PCRM for taking over public media and
hiding the truth of the global economic crisis
from Moldovan citizens. In keeping with his
above-the-fray, stop-the-fighting campaign
rhetoric in July, Lupu was more restrained,
stressing the need to build a European Moldova "in
peace and equilibrium."

New Parliament's First MotionQPublic TV Access
-------------- --------------
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7. (SBU) The AIE also voted to have the PCRM-
dominated "public" network Moldova One broadcast
live a party leaders' meeting scheduled for the
evening of August 28. Filat stressed that PCRM
leader Voronin would be invited to the meeting.
The AIE MPs also voted to have Moldova One
broadcast the next session of Parliament live, on
its re-scheduled meeting day of September 2.
(Note: During both electoral campaigns this year,
non-PCRM parties all criticized the excess
exposure and favorable treatment given to the PCRM
by Moldova One, which is the only television
station with nationwide coverage, and virtually
the only source of news for many living in
isolated towns and villages. End Note.)

Comment
--------------


8. (SBU) At the end of the four-hour session, as
AIE MPs gathered to drink champagne and
congratulate each other, several wondered whether
the PCRM would recognize Ghimpu's election and sit
in Parliament on September 2. Though several PCRM
deputies had made press statements pronouncing
Ghimpu's election illegal, some doubts were
removed when Ghimpu left the building in the
Speaker's limousine (to the cheers of standers-
by),followed by by a security detail car provided
by the executive branch. The Communists may
attempt to mount a legal challenge, but in any
event, the AIE's control of Parliament assures
Ghimpu's election.


9. (SBU) While much difficult work remains ahead
the AIE still needs to find the eight votes
necessary to elect a new president Q Ghimpu's
surprising election represented a major
achievement for the fledgling non-Communist
coalition. The AIE's four party leaders were able
to overcome serious differences (septel),and in a
decisive show of unity have seized the momentum
back from the PCRM.


MICHELI