BUCHAREST, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Following unexpected political tensions, Moldovan acting President Pavel Filip announced on Sunday to dissolve the parliament and call snap elections on Sept. 6, shortly after the Constitutional Court suspended President Igor Dodon for his refusal to dissolve the parliament and named Prime Minister Filip as acting president.
"The Constitutional Court has determined today that the president refuses to fulfill his attributions which violates the Constitution. Constitutional Court has suspended his function," said Filip, stressing that "there are no other solutions following the crisis triggered by the Party of Socialists and the ACUM alliance and under the conditions of a compromised political class."
Filip's move came one day after the Socialists and ACUM alliance signed an agreement to form a governing coalition on Saturday. Both sides also convened a special parliamentary session, at which their deputies, which together control 61 seats out of the 101-seat parliament, elected Socialists' leader Zinaida Greceanii as president of Parliament and approved a new government led by Maia Sandu, leader of the ACUM alliance.
Yet, the Constitutional Court accepted the contests of the ruling Democratic Party and ruled that the election of Greceanii as the parliament's speaker, as well as the formation of the new government were unconstitutional, just as the other decisions made by the national legislature starting from June 8, when the parliament must be dissolved.
In response, the deputies of the Socialists and ACUM adopted a declaration, claiming that the majority of state structures are captured by an "oligarchical system", including the Constitutional Court.
However, at the time of serious confrontation between the two sides, the European Union (EU) issued a statement on Sunday afternoon to explicitly support the newly formed coalition government.
"The European Union takes good note of the decisions taken yesterday by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, including on the formation of the government coalition," underlined a statement on the political situation in Moldova jointly issued by EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.
Calling for calmness and restraint, the EU says it stands ready to work with the "democratically legitimate government on the basis of a mutual commitment to reforms and to the core principles enshrined in our Association Agreement."
"Dialogue between democratically elected representatives must remain the key to finding a solution to the current political crisis," the EU officials said in the statement.
