​ACTING PREMIER LEANCA AUTHORIZED TO FORM NEW GOVERNMENT – PRESIDENTIAL DECREE

Moldova’s Acting Prime Minister Iurie Leanca has been officially authorized to start forming a new Cabinet of Ministers, as per the Decree, which President Nicolae Timofti signed on Wednesday night on appointing Leanca candidate for prime minister.

According to the law, now Leanca has 15 days at his disposal to present to parliament for consideration the would-be government’s work program and personal composition. It is expected that the Parliament’s plenary meeting dedicated to the government question will take place at the end of next week within the framework of a new Spring-Summer Session, which must begin in the fist half of February.

Candidate Leanca stated to journalists following his meeting with the head of state that already on Thursday morning he is starting intensive consultations with all parliamentary factions.

“We have lost much time. We need to begin consultations with all parliamentary parties and with the civil society as soon as possible to work out an optimum program of country governance and to continue solving citizens’ problems”, said Iurie Leanca.

The candidate is going to enter into negotiations with the opposition Party of Socialists, and with the Communists who stated on Wednesday they are ready to support a minority government, if only it is headed by another premier, not Iurie Leanca.

“Now a totally new stage is beginning: the president has signed a decree on appointing me candidate for prime minister, having entrusted the formation of a new government to me. This is a totally new situation, when we are beginning negotiations being in another status. There are personal offenses, reciprocal claims etc. – but there interests of the country and of its citizens. The latter considerations are by far more important, and we will be proceeding exactly from them in my talks with all deputies”, stated the candidate for prime minister.

Leanca stressed he is going to hold negotiations also with the Liberals, who preferred to take no part in forming a governing coalition.

“We will be discussing everything in a calm and constructive atmosphere. I hope we will achieve a compromise and will not only form a government but will be able to pass from a minority government over to forming a parliamentary majority that will continue the nation’s Euro-integration path”, stated Iurie Leanca.

Infotag’s dossier: Born on October 20, 1963, Iurie Leanca graduated in 1986 from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) – one of the two prestigious-most higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation, yielding only to Mikhail Lomonosov Moscow State University (MGU), the education sector flagship.

He was on service at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs since graduation from MGIMO, and worked at the Soviet Embassy to Romania. In 1993-1997, he worked at the Moldovan Embassy to the United States in the rank of ambassador-at-large. In 1998-1999 – a Deputy Minister, and in 1999-2001 – First Deputy Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs. Upon the Moldovan Communist Party’s coming into power, Leanca resigned from the foreign ministry, and worked as Vice-President of the ASCOM Corporation, which ran oil and gas production in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and several African countries.

In 2005-2007 Iurie Leanca was Senior Adviser to OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities (in the Netherlands). In 2005-2009, he was Deputy Chairperson of the Moldovan Association for External Policy (APE).

In 2009 he was elected to the Moldovan Parliament on the Liberal Democratic Party ticket, but shortly after that he preferred the post of the country’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in the Filat Government-1. In May 2013 he became Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova.

Iurie Leanca has a diplomatic rank of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He is the bearer of Moldova’s supreme state award – Ordinul Republicii [Order of the Republic].

Leanca is married and has two adult sons. He has a good command of Russian, English, French, Bulgarian and Hungarian.

Earlier this week, MCP leader Vladimir Voronin stated that the 20-member Communist faction shall not support Iurie Leanca’s candidacy for prime minister, and that this post should be given to a politically neutral and independent person i.e. an efficient businessperson and good economy organizer.

There is one more reason why the Communists are reluctant to vote for Leanca: in the previous Parliament, they initiated two votes of no confidence in the Leanca Government. From the other side, the Communists fear that President Timofti may appoint Leanca candidate for a second time. And if at such second attempt Leanca fails to be supported by minimum 51 MPs, the head of state will dissolve the Parliament and announce early elections. Such evolution would be extremely undesirable for the Communist Party.

An intrigue to voting is sharpened by the position of the Liberal Party, whose deputies [13], to spite LDP leader Vlad Filat, may well support Leanca’s candidacy if the Communists refuse to back him. But there is a doubt that Liberal Party Chairman Mihai Ghimpu will decide to support Leanca without receiving weighty posts for his party in the government being formed by the Liberal Democrats and Democrats.

As for the largest parliamentary faction of the Socialists [25], they have stated they are not going to vote for Leanca.