CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) -- Moldova's Communist president called Friday for a recount of ballots in last weekend's parliamentary elections in an effort to restore stability in a country rocked by riots and claims of voting fraud.
President Vladimir Voronin, who has recently maintained closer ties with Russia than the European Union,
said the recount would prove to skeptics that his governing Communist
Party fairly won Sunday’s election in the former Soviet republic.
”The elections were democratic and free,” Voronin said in a statement.
”I want a full and transparent recount,” he told reporters.
Later, the president met with the U.S. Ambassador Asif J. Chaudhry
and promised to have a ”constructive dialogue” with opposition
parties, Voronin’s press office said.
Anti-communist protesters who claimed the election was rigged
stormed parliament and the president’s office in Chisinau on Tuesday in
riots that left more than 90 injured and led to 200 arrests.
Anti-communist protesters who claimed the election was rigged
stormed parliament and the president’s office in Chisinau on Tuesday in
riots that left more than 90 injured and led to 200 arrests.
Official results said the Communists won about 50 percent of the
votes in the election, which international observers declared fair.
That result would allow the Communists to maintain their control of
parliament, but probably need the support of another party to win
enough votes in the new parliament to hold onto the presidency.
”I call on the Constitutional Court to wholly recount the votes,”
Voronin said, without saying when that should happen. The president
said he believes the recount will ”become an important argument for
political stability, peace and mutual trust in the Republic of
Moldova.”
The 68-year-old president — who is barred by the Constitution from
seeking a third term as president — visited his ransacked office on
Friday, standing near graffiti saying ”Resignation Communists!” and
an image of the Communist hammer and a sickle with a line drawn through
it. Speaking in Russian to journalists, he once again accused
opposition parties and neighboring Romania of trying to use the riots
to overthrow his government.
He claimed the Romanian Embassy, whose ambassador he expelled this
week, helped Moldovan students living in Romania to travel home and
vote in the election, knowing that most students would vote for the
pro-European opposition. Romania has denied involvement, and opposition
parties have said the riots were spontaneous.
Meanwhile, about 200 protesters urging the Communist government to
resign held a rally Friday in the capital. The protesters — mostly
students — shouted ”Down with the Communists!” and ”Resignation!”
”It’s good that the youth have woken up,” said Timofte Croitaru,
an 82-year-old retiree joining the protest. ”My pension doesn’t cover
my living costs.”
Opponents blame the Communists for low living standards and for
preventing the country from forming closer ties with the European
Union. Moldova, with a population of 4.1 million, remains one of
Europe’s poorest nations with an average monthly salary of $350.
The protesters said they wanted a peaceful rally. Some carried flowers, while others waved Moldovan and Romanian flags.
The two neighboring countries are linked through language and
history but have followed different paths since the collapse of the
Soviet Union. Romania looked West and joined the European Union in
2007, while Moldova’s communist government has stronger ties with
Russia.
Moldova was part of Romania until it was occupied by Soviet forces
during World War II. It declared independence in 1991 in the aftermath
of the Soviet breakup.
Meanwhile, Romanian public television, TVR, called for the immediate
release of its Chisinau correspondent, Doru Dendiu, who was detained
with another Romanian journalist by police on Friday. Both were later
freed, Romanian Agerpres news agency said.
Also, Moldovan journalist Rodica Mahu of the anti-government Jurnal
de Chisinau was taken into custody Friday by police for questioning
about allegedly planning an attack on the government building, but
later released, she said.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said it was ”very distu
rbed”
that Moldovan authorities have been arresting Romanian and Moldovan
journalists and ”even using violence against them,” as they cover the
unrest.
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