Moldovan leaders have called for people to protest against a ‘power grab’ attempt by the outgoing president and his pro-Russian allies.
President-elect Maia Sandu was joined by a key politician in the former Soviet Republic urging for a demonstration on Thursday against a move by the outgoing president Igor Dodon to place the country’s intelligence agency under parliamentary control.
Ms Sandu, a former World Bank economist, defeated pro-Russian incumbent in November elections.
The Intelligence and Security Service is currently under the authority of the president, but as Mr Dodon will leave the post, he and his allies will lose control of what is seen as a key institution.
Mr. Dodon’s Socialists and their allies have a majority in the 101-seat legislature and could approve the change in a vote Thursday.
“The Dodon regime wants to steal the election. He is trying to abusively control the Intelligence and Security Service,” she said. “This is an abuse … by someone who has lost the people’s trust.”
Her appeal was backed by the influential Renato Usatii, the mayor of Moldova’s second-largest city who came third in the presidential election. He has thrown his weight behind Ms. Sandu.
The vote “is a sick way of clinging on to power,” he said.
„Maia Sandu hasn’t managed to be take office and they are already trying to steal something. How should people act? They can protest.”
“Today, protests are the only formula and only way to get early elections and to make sure guilty people are held accountable and to show the whole world that people want change and are capable of fighting. We have to be united.”
He compared Mr. Dodon to Vlad Plahotniuc a fugitive Moldovan oligarch who wielded significant power behind the scenes before he fled the country after he was charged with masterminding a criminal network and money laundering.
The U.S. banned Mr. Plahotniuc from entering the country „due to his involvement in significant corruption,” the U.S. State Department said in January.
In June 2019, the intelligence agency was transferred to the presidency although it is under parliamentary oversight. It was seen as a move to increase the power of the president.
