COMMUNIST MP TURCAN READY TO LEAVE THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHISINAU 000927

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PINR MD
SUBJECT: COMMUNIST MP TURCAN READY TO LEAVE THE
PCRM FACTION AND TAKE MP GROUP WITH HIM

Classified by: Ambassador Asif J. Chaudhry for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: In a December 1 meeting with the
Ambassador, PCRM MP Vladimir Turcan said that he
was ready to leave the Communist party faction and
claimed to have a group of at least six MPs who
would leave with him to establish a new political
party. He described a meeting of the PCRM inner
circle earlier that day, in which he had worked to
convince Voronin that the PCRM should vote for
Alliance candidate Marian Lupu for President.
Turcan believed that there was still a significant
chance that Voronin would decide to let the PCRM
vote for the Presidency, as he knew that otherwise
a PCRM split was in the making. Turcan expressed
doubts about whether the Alliance would stand firm
behind Lupu, and noted that Filat needed a
guarantee that he would not be removed as Prime
Minister if Lupu were elected. Turcan planned to
meet with Filat and hoped to help increase the
level of trust between Lupu and Filat. End
Summary

PCRM to Decide on Voting or Turcan to Quit Faction
-------------- --------------


2. (C) On December 1, PCRM MP Vladimir Turcan told
the Ambassador that earlier in the day he had
presented his memorandum on principles for
cooperation with the non-Communist Alliance to a
meeting of the PCRM Political Executive Committee.
He said that he had spoken on behalf of himself,
former Deputy Prime Minister Stepaniuc and a group
of deputies and spent the bulk of this meeting
trying to convince PCRM party leader Vladimir
Voronin that the party should vote for Lupu as
President on December 7.


3. (C) The party meeting had concluded that it was
necessary to urgently hold a plenary session of
the PCRM Central Committee to discuss the question
of whether all 48 PCRM deputies should participate
in the Presidential voting on December 7. The
Party would decide on whether or not to vote and
whoever did not agree would quit the faction.
Turcan thought there was still a good chance his
position would be supported by the party, but
acknowledged the possibility that his group might
remain a minority voice in the Central Committee
plenum. He said that no matter what was decided
in the plenum, he was ready to leave the PCRM
faction.

Uncertainty about Voronin's Position
--------------


4. (C) Turcan said that during the December 1
party meeting, Voronin had stuck firmly to his
decision not to participate in the presidential
voting. However, Turcan believed that there was
still a "pretty high" chance that Voronin would
eventually decide that all PCRM deputies should
participate in the voting. Turcan noted that
Voronin knew he was getting ready to establish a
new party, and thought this might help bring him
around.

Doubts About Alliance Solidarity
--------------


5. (C) Turcan suggested that one key principle for
cooperation should be that if the PCRM votes for
Lupu, the Democratic Party and AMN should vote
with them on replacing Ghimpu as Speaker. He
would seek to have the PCRM, Lupu and Urechean
sign such an agreement. The Ambassador pointed
out that until this point Lupu has consistently
ruled out the idea of eliminating Ghimpu as
Speaker and reminded Turcan that without the
Liberal Party's agreement, this would not be an
agreement with the Alliance. Turcan took this
comment on board, but remained concerned that if
Lupu was not elected as President, then Ghimpu
would continue on as Acting-President.


6. (C) Turcan said that Voronin doubted Alliance
solidarity and believed that even if he gathered
the necessary eight PCRM votes to support Lupu,
then some MPs from Filat's PLDM or even someone

from AMN would not vote for Lupu. Turcan said
that he intended to meet with AMN leader Serafim
Urechean. Turcan had met with AMN Deputy
Vecheslav Untila earlier that day (December 1).
He knew that there were some problems between
Urechean and Untila and hoped for assurances of
solidarity within AMN.


7. (C) Turcan had been in touch with Filat and had
met with him. On Friday November 27, after Lupu
gave an interview to TV-7 in which he indirectly
blamed Filat for the meat monopoly scandal, Filat
called Turcan and was upset. The three were
supposed to meet, but Filat wanted Lupu to
apologize first.

Turcan's Group and Party Plans
--------------


8. (C) Turcan said that he had a group of at least
six PCRM deputies who would leave the party
faction with him to form a new party. He
mentioned former Deputy Prime Minister Victor
Stepaniuc, Valentin Guznac, Svetlana Popa, Aliona
Babiuc and Ludmila Belcencova as MPs who were with
him. Turcan said that he would meet with former
Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii on Dec 2 to
resolve whether she would join his group. She had
early said that if the PCRM did not decide that
the entire party would vote for Lupu, then she was
prepared to leave the party faction. Turcan
thought it possible Stoicov, and maybe even Calin
would also join him. Turcan said he had
information that some people from the districts
(raions) around the country would also leave the
PCRM with them.


9. (C) Turcan said that his new party would
support leftist-centrist principles. He said he
had an agreement with Lupu to cooperate and go in
parallel directions, and that he also had an
agreement with Filat to cooperate. He joked that
Voronin had even proposed the name for his party,
suggesting it should be the Socialist Labor Party.

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


10. (C) December 7 will be a critical test for
Turcan, and a decisive moment for Moldova. Turcan
holds an important key to Moldova's future in his
hands and what he does will affect his country.
If he boldly walks to the voting booth in full
view of all assembled TV cameras, he has the power
to help ensure that a President is elected. If he
takes this step and his group follows him, he will
split the PCRM faction, dealing a serious blow to
the ability of the Communists to ever regain
power. If Turcan plays his card right, he can
dramatically affect Moldova's political course.


11. (C) Turcan is not a Communist Party member,
but is an MP on the party list, and thus member of
the PCRM faction in Parliament. His break with
the PCRM faction has been a long time in coming.
Though he has been flirting with making this break
for some time, he has also been hesitating.
Moldova will be watching now on December 7 to see
what he actually does and whether he takes the
critical step to cross the line to the voting
booth.

CHAUDHRY