Ghimpu Confirmed As Acting President,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000713

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM PINR MD
SUBJECT: Ghimpu Confirmed As Acting President,
Nominates Filat for Prime Minister

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On September 17, the
Constitutional Court confirmed the legality of
Parliamentary Speaker Ghimpu's assumption of the
position of Acting President. Ghimpu promptly
nominated Liberal Democratic Party leader Vlad
Filat as his candidate for Prime Minister. Filat
will have up to 15 days to propose his program and
cabinet to the Parliament, but is expected to do
so sooner. Ghimpu also announced that he was
lifting the visa requirements for citizens of
Romania.


2. (SBU) The Parliament adopted a law in its first
reading making changes to the Government
structure. They proposed sixteen ministries, and
a reduction in the number of state agencies from
thirteen to eight. Most controversial was
elimination of the Ministry of Reintegration.
Though the Transnistria issue will be handled by a
National Office headed by a Deputy Prime Minister,
ex-Minister Sova and others from Communist Party
expressed concern that this was a sign the new
government would not take reintegration seriously.
Parliament also amended the law to remove a 2007
prohibition on government officials having dual
citizenship. END SUMMARY.

Court Rules Ghimpu Legally Acting President
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3. (SBU) In a September 17 sitting, the
Constitutional Court confirmed the legality of
Speaker Ghimpu assuming the position of Acting
President on September 11. Although the Court did
not mention Ghimpu by name, it Court ruled that
former President Voronin's letter of resignation
had created a vacancy that triggered the need for
an Acting President.

Ghimpu Nominates Filat as Prime Minister Candidate
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4. (SBU) After being assured that his role as
Acting President was recognized as fully legal, as
required by law Ghimpu consulted with the
Parliamentary factions, and then announced that he
had designated PLDM leader Vlad Filat as his
candidate for Prime Minister. Under Article 98 of
the Constitution, Filat will have a period of up
to 15 days to present his program and cabinet to
the Parliament for approval. As the Alliance is
eager to put its government into place as quickly
as possible, it is expected that Filat will return
to the Parliament to propose his cabinet in the
coming days. Ghimpu announced that Moldova would
have a functional government in place before the
end of September.

Ghimpu Suspends Visa Regime for Romanians
--------------


5. (SBU) Ghimpu also signed a decree suspending
the previous government's April 8 decision
(adopted in the wake of the April 7 violence)
introducing a visa regime for citizens of Romania.
He announced that starting from September 18,
citizens of Romania will be able to travel to
Moldova without visas.

Parliament adopts Law on Restructuring Government
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) The Parliament also adopted in the first
reading a law on the structure of the government.
Although the Alliance kept the number of
ministries at 16 (as in the previous government,
the law introduced two new ministries and removed
two old ministries. The new ministries will be
Ministry of Transportation and Road Infrastructure
and Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism. The two
ministries dissolved were the Ministry of
Reintegration, and the Ministry of Local Public
Administration. The number of State Agencies was
reduced from thirteen to eight. An Agency of
Public Property was created. In recognition of
the importance of customs to the state budget, the
Parliament bill would also make the Customs
Service subordinate to the Ministry of Finance.
Finally, the Moldova-Vin Agency will be under the
Ministry of Economy. This restructuring will

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still have to be considered in the second reading
before it enters into force.

Decision on Reintegration Ministry Triggers
Backlash
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7. (SBU) The elimination of the Ministry of
Reintegration triggered harsh criticism from the
PCRM. Ex-Minister Vasile Sova (who appeared
visibly upset) and other PCRM deputies claimed
removing that eliminating the Ministry would
damage the country's ability to deal with this
important issue and would send wrong signals to
the public, both nationally and internationally.


8. (SBU) Alliance deputies argued that although
they were eliminating the Ministry of
Reintegration as a Ministry, they proposed to
create a National Office within the Government to
be headed by a Deputy Prime Minister. According
to AIE, a Deputy Prime Minister would have greater
authority to coordinate GoM efforts, including
assigning tasks to other ministers, and hence the
coverage of reintegration was being promoted to a
higher level.

Public Officials Allowed to Hold Dual Citizenship
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9. (SBU) The 53 Alliance MPs also voted to remove
from the Law on Government the provision
preventing the public officials from having dual
citizenship, a restriction introduced in 2007 by
the PCRM and PPCD. The Communists also were
strongly critical of this move, but Alliance
deputies argued that given Moldova's ethnic
structure and historic background, such
restrictions were incorrect. Reportedly, 20
Alliance MPs hold Romanian passports.

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


10. (SBU) As expected, the Constitutional Court
ruled in favor of Ghimpu as acting President.
The position was indeed vacant, and the law does
say that the Speaker should become Acting
President. With the favorable decision in hand,
Ghimpu did not lose any time before nominating
Filat as candidate for Prime Minister. The
Alliance will now move forward as quickly as
possible to put a new government in place.
Ghimpu's decision to repeal the visa regime also
should pave the way for better relations with
Romania and with the EU.

CHAUDHRY