By Wednesday (12 January) Moldova may have a new government, said Alexandru Tănase, first vice-president of PLDM (the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova), one of three parties in the pro-Europe coalition.
On 31 December, PLDM leader Vladimir Filat was appointed by Moldova's Acting President Marian Lupu as next prime minister following elections held on 28 November (see 'Background').
The leaders of the three parties in the Pro-European Alliance - PLDM, PD and PL - will meet shortly to discuss the "final details" of the future government, Tănase said.
PL (the Liberal Party) is led by Mihai Ghimpu, who was acting president until the elections, while PD (the Democratic Party) is led by Marian Lupu, who is now expected to hold the posts of parliamentary speaker and interim president.
A former communist, 44-year-old Lupu established his own opposition party, the Democratic Party, which became part of the Pro-European Alliance for European Integration assembled in August 2009. In elections on 28 November, Lupu's party obtained 15 seats in parliament and he came to be widely seen as a king-maker.
Lupu was courted by the Communists, who had hoped to form a coalition with his party until EU mediation prevented this scenario.
EurActiv Romania writes that the Communists are now trying to derail the formation of a pro-European government by publishing all the documents they claim they negotiated with PD, putting Lupu in an embarrassing situation.
According to Lupu, during the negotiations, communist party PCRM had insisted on forming a government with his PD party for only two years, after which time an early election would be called. The communists had insisted that Moldova should become part of a customs union between Russia, Belarus and-Kazakhstan and that all talk about EU integration must end, he said.
But Lupu's Democratic Party does not seem to be an easy interlocutor in the Pro-European Alliance either. Reportedly, PD opposes plans for constitutional reform proposed by the Liberal Party. While the Liberals are pushing for a completely new constitution, PD is only in favour of changing the text that refers to the election of the head of state by parliament (see 'Background').
As for the distributions of portfolios, PLDM will reportedly have seven of sixteen ministerial posts, while PL and PD will have five each.
