Former Moldovan President Dodon reinstated as head of Party of Socialists
CHISINAU. April 11 (Interfax) - Former Moldovan President Igor Dodon has been reinstated as the head of the Moldovan Party of Socialists, member of the Party Executive Committee Vlad Bartincea said.
He said the decision was made by the Executive Committee at a joint meeting with the Republican Council of the Moldovan Party of Socialists.
Dodon will serve as the executive secretary of the Party of Socialists, while Bartincea, who earlier held the post, will take charge of the parliamentary faction of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists in place of Zinaida Greceanii, who will become the honorary chairman of the Party of Socialists instead of Dodon.
Dodon chaired the Moldovan Party of Socialists in 2011-2016. He left the position after being elected Moldovan president. After his defeat in the following presidential election, Dodon was reinstated as the party's chairman. When the party lost the parliamentary elections in 2021, the post of party chairman was abolished at Dodon's suggestion, and a collective body - the five-member Executive Committee - led the party. Dodon became the party's honorary chairman, and Bartincea was elected executive secretary.
Dodon said he was not in contact with party colleagues, in order to prevent the criminal case against him from affecting the party. But he had expressed the wish to be reinstated as party leader in recent months.
Dodon was arrested on May 24, 2022, on counts of passive corruption, bribery, and the organization and acceptance of party funding from a criminal network in June 2019 when he was Moldovan president.
The case against Dodon was based on a video which featured him taking a black bag from Democratic Party Chairman Vlad Plahotniuc in 2019. Prosecutors said Dodon may have received $600,000 to $1 million in funding for the Party of Socialists.
The former president was released from house arrest by the Supreme Judicial Panel on November 18, 2022. The court prohibited him from leaving Moldova.