Moldova's ruling coalition to act in unison in 2nd round of elections

CHISINAU, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - Leaders of the rightwing parties
making up the ruling coalition have urged their political proponents among
voters to cast ballots in favor of the incumbent mayor of the capital
Chisinau, Dorin Chirtoaca, in the second round of local elections June 19.
This is said in a declaration that was signed Thursday by Prime
Minister Vlad Filat, who represents the Liberal Democratic Party, Interim
President and parliament speaker Marian Lupu, who represents the
Democratic Party, and Mihai Ghimpu, the leader of the Liberals.
Speaking at a news briefing after the signing of the document, Filat
said the three parties will act in unison. He indicated that the other two
leaders and he had discussed the possibility of setting up 'democratic
alliances' at the local level so as to ensure a democratic rule for
Moldova.
Ghimpu said, on his part, the contradictions existing in the ruling
coalition do not pose a really serious problem. He admitted the presence
of differences among the coalition parties but said they act as a united
force when it comes to the future of the Moldovan state or the attaining
of the goals that the coalition has set forth for itself.
The three parties acted separately in the first round of the local
elections June 5 and Moldovan political analysts and experts say they have
been compelled to pool their efforts together in the wake of an apparent
growth of popularity of the opposition Communist Party, which the results
of voting provided a graphic proof to.
In the meantime, the situation around the elections is getting tense.
Thursday, the Communists accused the incumbent authorities of vote-rigging
and started actions of protest.
"The ruling coalition and the Central Electoral Commission have fully
discredited themselves and they should resign," the Communists' leader
Vladimir Voronin said.