Moldovan Liberal-Democratic Party's Strelet to be prime ministerial candidate - source
CHISINAU. July 27 (Interfax) - The majority coalition in Moldova has reached an agreement on a candidate for prime minister, nominating Liberal-Democratic Party's (LDPM) Valeriu Strelet, a source with the Moldovan presidential office told Interfax.
Strelet's candidacy was endorsed by the leaders of the LDPM, the Democratic Party, and the Liberal Party at negotiations on Monday.
The LDPM, which is entitled to nominate a prime ministerial candidate as it is the party holding the largest number of parliamentary mandates, originally planned to nominate Education Minister Maia Sandu. However, the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party refused to support her candidacy. Following lengthy negotiations, the three leaders accepted Strelet's candidacy.
"At the present time, the leaders of the three parties and Valeriu Strelet are at President Nicolae Timofti's office. It is expected that, based on the meeting's outcomes, President Timofti should sign a decree on appointing a prime ministerial candidate, which is likely to happen on Tuesday morning. In this case, the parliament should be able to endorse the government's composition and action program within the framework of the current session, which is to last until July 31," he said.
Valeriu Strelet was born in the village of Tareuca, in the Rezina district of Moldova, on March 8, 1970. In October 2007, Strelet became the LDMP's co-founder and deputy chairman. He was elected to the Moldovan parliament in July 2009 and in November 2010. From May 2011 to September 2014, he headed the LDPM's parliamentary faction.
Monday marked half of the time that was allotted to the parliament to form a government following Chiril Gaburici's resignation on June 12. The constitution stipulates that the parliament may be dissolved if it does not pass a vote of confidence in the government within 45 days, declining nominations at least twice. A government must be formed within three months, and in this particular case the deadline is September 12.