March 25 (SeeNews) - The cabinet proposed by Moldovan PM-designate Igor Grosu failed to get parliament's approval on Thursday due to lack of quorum.
MPs from the Socialist Party (PSRM), Sor Party and PRO Moldova, which recently formed a majority, did not attend the session, a video posted on the parliament's website showed.
"The conditions for calling early elections are very much in place now," Grosu said during a video press briefing broadcast by TV station Realitatea.md shortly after the session.
Pro-European president Maia Sandu nominated Grosu as prime-minister designate on March 16 after Mariana Durlesteanu, the candidate proposed by the coalition controlling the majority of seats in parliament, rejected the nomination. Two days later however, the coalition named the country's ambassador to Moscow, Vladimir Golovatiuc, as prime minister-designate.
Grosu has been serving as MP since 2019 and is the acting president of pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), which Sandu led before becoming a president.
In February, the president said that she will continue to push for early elections or for a referendum for her dismissal.
Moldova has been run by a caretaker cabinet led by foreign affairs and European integration minister Aurel Ciocoi since December, when former prime minister Ion Chicu resigned in a move aimed to prompt early parliamentary elections.
According to the country's constitution, the parliament can call a referendum for the suspension of the president on the votes of at least two thirds of the MPs. Regarding the nomination of a new prime minister, if parliament rejects the president's choice twice in the span of 45 days, the head of state can dissolve the assembly and set a date for a snap election.
PSRM, led by former president Igor Dodon who lost to Sandu in the November presidential elections, has 36 MPs. Sor Party, led by businessman Ilan Sor, controls nine seats in parliament, PAS holds 15 seats, while pro-EU Dignity and Truth Party (PDPDA) controls 11 seats. The Democrat Party of Moldova holds 11 seats, Pro-Moldova has seven seats, while the remaining 12 mandates are held by independent MPs.
(1 euro=21.1624 lei)