Alliance Candidate Ghimpu Elected Speaker

UNCLAS CHISINAU 000670 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION STATE FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE 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 -------------- ¶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 �00A;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 -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶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