Moldovan PM: No reasons for govt's resignation
CHISINAU. Sept 9 (Interfax) - Moldovan Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet sees no reasons for the government to resign.
Speaking to journalists before a regular Cabinet meeting on Wednesday regarding the protesters' demand that the parliament be dissolved and early elections called, Strelet said, "This could lead to a threatening destabilization of the situation with unpredictable consequences."
"The government's resignation could cause a number of systemic problems and end up in a collapse. I don't understand why they demand the government's resignation. We have done big work in six weeks to lay the groundwork for processes intended to resolve the problems mentioned by the protesters themselves. We have managed to eliminate the debt on subsidies for agricultural workers and we have avoided the deprivation of our country of the right to issue Green Card insurance. We have initiated the procedure of the liquidation of banks involved in the embezzlement of billions," Strelet said.
The prime minister said he was willing to meet with protesters within the next few days to discuss all problems, listen to their demands and look for compromise solutions.
"We are ready for a dialogue with the leaders of the DA platform [the protesters], and I am ready to present them with an account of the government's activities and a plan of measures to improve the situation. But I am not sure that they want a dialogue and they are ready to hear the government. They don't want to hear anything and they are pursuing some other goals. I don't see that the group of the protest leaders is ready for compromise," he said.
Strelet said he sees a difference between those who participated in the Sunday protest rally and those who are rallying non-stop in the tent city.
"In my view, this open-ended protest rally is pursuing some other goals. I am sure that the participants who came to the square at their own initiative would have other demands than those formulated by the DA leaders. The people would certainly demand higher salaries and the cancellation of the decision on increasing the prices for gas and electricity. The protest organizers simply want to ruin everything and their goal is not to resolve problems but to shake the situation and obstruct the resolution of problems," he said.
The prime minister warned that, "amid possible destabilization, an IMF mission might not come to Chisinau and the situation would worsen."
"We need to restore our relations with the development partners and, to this end, we need to sign a new program with the IMF. We are preparing for negotiations with the IMF and are taking concrete steps towards this. But if there are no negotiations the situation will only be worsening and the leu might devalue to 40 lei/$1 [compared to the current exchange rate of 19.25 lei/$1], and the interest rate on loans may reach 40% [currently 20%-24%]. It's unprofitable to take out loans and the economy is not developing. The situation needs to be rectified rather than worsened," he said.
Strelet said he was upset by the fact that some protesters speaking from the rostrum on the Great National Assembly Square called him "a thief" and "a criminal."
"These are insults in my address. I am not a thief. And I have a lot of colleagues who are not thieves. Therefore, some DA leaders should apologize," he said.
It was reported earlier that several dozens of thousands of protesters had gathered in the center of Chisinau on Sunday, September 6, for the largest protest rally of the previous few years. The demonstrators adopted a resolution demanding early parliamentary elections, the president's resignation, nationwide presidential elections, the replacement of the leaders of the security agencies and the return of one billion euro, supposedly stolen from the national banking system.
The demonstrators decided to make the protest open-ended by pitching tents on the Great National Assembly Square in the center of Chisinau and calling the tent city a City of Dignity and Justice. The tent city has been growing since then, numbering more than 200 tents as of Wednesday morning.
President Nicolae Timofti made an official statement on Tuesday in which he refused to resign, arguing that "this could destabilize the situation in the country."
