Moldovan Constitutional Court suspends President Dodon again

Moldovan Constitutional Court suspends President Dodon again
By bne IntelliNews September 24, 2018

The Moldovan Constitutional Court suspended President Igor Dodon from his post on September 24 over his refusal to appoint the ministers proposed by the ruling Democratic Party (PDM).

This is the fourth time Dodon has been suspended from the post amid repeated standoffs with the ruling coalition over his refusal to appoint ministers or to promulgate laws passed by the parliament.

Pro-Russian Dodon has seldom not been at odds with the pro-European ruling PDM — at least publicly. However, there has been media speculation that the conflict is only formal and intended to mask an alleged unofficial alliance between Dodon and the PDM leader, Vlad Plahotniuc. 

The leader of Moldova’s main pro-EU opposition party, the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), Maia Sandu, has claimed that Plahotniuc unofficially helped Dodon win the presidential race, in which she was the runner up. The Dignity and Truth Party (PPDA) head Andrei Nastase has also spoken about a collaboration between the two.

The Moldovan Constitutional Court decided to suspend Dodon yet again after the Moldovan president refused to appoint two ministers nominated by the ruling coalition. While he is suspended, parliament speaker Andrian Candu or Prime Minister Pavel Filip will be able to sign the decrees appointing the new ministers.

Dodon refused to appoint the new ministers for healthcare and agriculture citing their lack of experience in the sector in the case of the candidate for minister of healthcare, and “serious integrity issues” in the case of the candidate for minister of agriculture.

In a Facebook post, Dodon called the Constitutional Court’s ruling illegal, claiming that all his legal arguments had been ignored by the court. “By its decision to suspend the president, legitimately elected through direct voting by the Moldovan citizens, the Constitutional Court has committed a double illegality: it has prevented me from trying to stop a serious violation of the legislation and has given a so-called interim president the possibility to promote this violation,” Dodon wrote on Facebook.

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