Decree to appoint Moldovan Defense Minister to be signed by Speaker of Parliament, not President Dodon
The decree to appoint the Moldovan Minister of Defense will be signed by Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu, instead of President Igor Dodon, Newsmaker reports with reference to the Moldovan parliament’s press service.
The decree to appoint Defense Minister Eugen Sturza, a candidate rejected twice by Dodon, may be signed by Candu on October 24, the Moldovan parliament’s press service announced.
All the necessary documentation for the procedure will need to reach parliament from the presidential administration by this time.
If the decree is signed, Sturza can be sworn into the new position on the same day.
Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu said earlier that the Constitutional Court’s decision does not affect the president’s other powers, his mandate or his actions, and that the ruling is only a way to put an end to the situation which has kept the country without a defense minister for nearly a year.
On October 17, the Constitutional Court of Moldova decreed that an acting head of state may be temporarily appointed to carry out the functions of the Moldovan president instead of Igor Dodon.
The court ruling states that Dodon’s refusal to approve the defense minister candidate repeatedly nominated by the prime minister is a violation of the constitution.
The Moldovan government subsequently asked the Constitutional Court to establish the conditions which would justify appointing another to temporarily perform the president’s duty of swearing in the new defense minister, and also to specify who should do this.
The Constitutional Court then ruled that Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu or Prime Minister Pavel Filip should sign the decree instead of president Igor Dodon.
Dodon called the Constitutional Court’s actions “another step towards a complete usurpation of power in the country”.