December 20 (SeeNews) - Moldova's ruling Democratic Party (PDM) decided on Wednesday to replace seven of 13 government ministers in an attempt to make a majority technocrat cabinet but Moldovan president Igor Dodon opposed the reshuffle.
Politically unaffiliated ministers were proposed to hold the portfolios of health, justice, European integration, economy, reintegration, agriculture and foreign affairs, the government said in a press release.
Svetlana Cebotari, currently head of the National Centre for Blood Transfusions was proposed for the position of minister of health, labour and social protection minister, while former Constitutional Court president Alexandru Tanase was nominated for justice minister.
Iurie Leanca, a former prime minister and currently deputy speaker of parliament was designated as deputy prime minister and minister for European integration. Another former prime minister, Chiril Gaburici, could become the new minister of economy as well as deputy prime minister.
Cristina Lesnic, a former head of the European integration section at the ministry of international cooperation and European integration was proposed for the positions of deputy prime minister and minister of reintegration.
The rector of the Agrarian University, Liviu Volconovici, was nominated for the position of agriculture minister, while Tudor Ulianovschi, the Moldovan ambassador to Geneva, was proposed to head the ministry of foreign affairs.
According to the country's constitution, the new faces in the cabinet must be endorsed by president Dodon, who already announced that he will not sign the appointment decrees, as some of the nominees "have been politically compromised".
"Some of them have also shown inconsistency, lack of professionalism and regrettable opportunism. Some of them should be in prison, not in the chairs of deputy prime ministers," Dodon wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
"Therefore, I declare that I will sign the resignation of the current ministers, but I will not accept the new candidates. I refuse to accept the Democrats' proposal. In my opinion, the parliamentary majority is committing a serious error through this so-called reform. It is obvious that the government is becoming more politicized now," Dodon added.
The refusal to appoint a minister could trigger suspension of the president from office.
In mid-October, the constitutional court ruled that Dodon can be suspended from office after he refused twice to swear in a new defence minister proposed by PDM. Using the court's ruling, on October 24, a new defence minister was put into office despite Dodon's protests.
Currently, PDM is the biggest force in Moldova's 101-seat parliament, with 41 MPs. The Socialist Party (PSRM) is the second biggest party with 24 seats, followed by the Liberal Party (PL) with 10 MPs, the European Parliamentary Group with 10, the Communist Party with 7, the PLDM with 5 seats and 4 independent deputies.
(1 euro = 20.1967 Moldovan lei)