Moldovan President Refuses to Resign Despite Democratic Party's Pressure

CHISINAU (Sputnik) - Moldovan President Igor Dodon has stated that he would not give in to pressure on him to step down, despite the relevant calls from the pro-European Democratic Party.

"In the coming hours and days there will be a serious pressure, first of all on me, I am pressured to resign. I know that members of parliament are preparing a lot of demonstrations, prepare [relevant] video clips, but I will not surrender", Dodon said.

According to the president, his opponents want his resignation as in this case there will be no one to approve the candidacy of prime minister if the talks to form a coalition government succeeds.

He also welcomed the efforts of the Socialist Party and the opposition ACUM bloc to "bring the procedure of electing the parliament’s leadership to the end".

"We are entering an important historical period for Moldova, I understand my role", the president added.

Dodon later noted that he had held meetings with Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov; the head of the EU Delegation to Moldova, Peter Michalko; and the deputy chief of the US Embassy in Chisinau, Martin McDowell, to discuss the potential danger of destabilisation in the country.

The statement comes after Democratic Party deputy chairman Andrian Candu said earlier in the day that the party would organise protests to force the president to resign, accusing the latter of betrayal and calling for new presidential elections to be held in fall, along with the parliamentary elections. Candu claimed that "until yesterday", the Democrats and Dodon’s Socialist Party were involved in talks to form a government coalition after the February indecisive parliamentary elections. The Democrats, however, could not agree to the Socialists' "unacceptable" conditions, including the country’s federalisation, which the party sees as the nation’s betrayal, according to the politician.

Earlier on Saturday, the Socialists and ACUM, however, managed to sign a cooperation agreement.

READ MORE: Moldovan President Says Snap Parliamentary Elections Could Be Held This Fall

After the 24 February parliamentary elections, Moldovan lawmakers were unable to elect the parliament's speaker and form its governing bodies as three main parties in the parliament could not reach an agreement on the government. Out of the 101 seats in the legislature, the Party of Socialists, which supports Dodon and rapprochement with Russia, got 35, while the pro-European ACUM bloc won 26. The former ruling Democratic Party won 30 and the SOR Party won 7. The last three seats went to independent lawmakers.