Moldovan government asks Constitutional Court who, instead of President Dodon, can appoint Minister of Defense
The Moldovan government appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine who will appoint the Minister of Defense instead of the country’s president Igor Dodon, reported newsmaker.md.
The government has asked the Constitutional Court to determine the conditions under which it is justified to temporarily transfer the duties of the president of the country to approve the appointment of a defense minister and to appoint someone who will fulfill these duties.
It was reported that the decision to appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers was made at a special meeting on October 19th.
The government noted that the request was sent to the Constitutional Court “to deal with the institutional crisis brought about by the president of the country, who violated his constitutional duties to appoint a minister of defense after the prime minister nominated the same individual twice.”
“There is a situation where it is necessary to temporarily carry out the duties of the president, not for a certain period of time, but for a specific purpose, which is the appointment of the Minister of Defense. The Republic of Moldova is a parliamentary country, and the president cannot do things that cause an institutional crisis and political instability,” said Prime Minister Pavel Filip.
Speaker Andrian Candu said that the decision of the Constitutional Court will not affect the other powers of the president such as his mandate or actions, and that this is just a way to resolve the fact that the country has had no defense minister for nearly a year.
On September 12th, the prime minister proposed to President Igor Dodon that Eugen Sturza be appointed to the post of defense minister, but the president rejected it. Later, the head of government again nominated Sturza, but the head of state again rejected it. The Cabinet turned to the Constitutional Court to find out what to do in such a situation.
On October 17th, the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled that a temporary acting head of state may be appointed instead of Igor Dodon in order to perform the functions of the President of Moldova.
The court decided that Dodon's refusal to approve the twice-nominated candidate for the post of defense minister is a violation of the Constitution.
In his statement, Dodon called the actions of the Constitutional Court “another step towards the complete and unlawful seizing of power in the country.”
Earlier, Igor Dodon, stated that the presidential mandate was given to him by God.