July 30 (SeeNews) - Moldova's president Maia Sandu said on Friday she decided to name former finance minister Natalia Gavrilita for the position of prime-minister designate to try to put together a new government.
"I have every confidence that the appointed prime minister will come with an upright, professional team, and that in two weeks' time at most, Moldova will have a new government, which will mean a new beginning for the country. People expect changes for the better and this requires firm action and competent decisions, which put the interest of the citizen first," Sandu said on a post on social media.
Gavrilita, who served as finance minister in Sandu's cabinet in 2019, has two weeks to form government and draw up the governing programme, before seeking a vote of confidence in parliament.
Pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) backed by Sandu won the general elections held on July 11 and holds with 63 of 101 seats in parliament. PAS was followed by the electoral bloc comprising the pro-Russian Socialist Party (PSRM) led by former president Igor Dodon and the Communist Party led by Vladimir Voronin, which won 32 seats.
One more political formation, Sor Party led by businessman Ilan Sor, made it into the unicameral parliament, winning 6 seats.
Moldova has been run by a caretaker government led by foreign minister Aureliu Ciocoi since December, when former prime minister Ion Chicu resigned in a move aimed to prompt early elections.
At the end of April, Sandu dissolved parliament and called early elections after the parliamentary majority led at the time by PSRM refused twice to endorse the prime ministers that she had proposed.
The US Department of State said earlier this month that Moldova's attractiveness for as an investment destination is affected by the political uncertainty in the country, macroeconomic risks and a slow pace of reforms.
(1 euro=21.1925 lei)