The president of the Democratic Party, Marian Lupu, who was elected speaker of Moldova's parliament on 30 December, signed a decree the next day instructing former Prime Minister Vladimir Filat to form a government, according to local media reports.
Lupu is now expected to hold the posts of parliamentary speaker and interim president.
Romanian daily Romania Libera expressed surprise at the decision, as Lupu had been expected to change camps and form a government with the country's pro-Russia Communist Party (see 'Background').
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 that was 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.
In a parliamentary ballot on 31 December, Lupu, who was the only candidate for the post of speaker, obtained all 57 votes cast by the three parties in the re-established Pro-European Alliance - PLDM, PD and PL. However, the majority fell short of the 61 votes needed to elect a president (see 'Background').
Moldova's parliament has 101 MPs. But the Communists did not vote in the ballot. Their leader, Vladimir Voronin, described the formation of a pro-European coalition as a "farce" which would have "unpredictable consequences," Russian agency Itar-TASS reported.
"The new authorities do not have a clear prospect and the new coalition does not have strategic interests, but only personal ones. These [personal] interests will win over soon," he said.
In contrast, Romania's Foreign Ministry welcomed the signature of an agreement reconstituting the Alliance for European Integration (AIE) and commended the leaders of its three parties for creating "a political edifice designed to ensure the continuation of the European course of the Republic of Moldova". The Ministry also expressed hopes that the new ruling alliance would garner the necessary parliamentary support to elect a president, which it described as a prerequisite for enhancing domestic political stability.
Romanian press reports indicate that the three parties in the Pro-European Alliance control 59 votes in parliament, and are expected to attract the two votes from the Communist Party's ranks they need to elect a president.
If this scenario comes to fruition, Marian Lupu would become the head of state, while Mihai Ghimpu could become the new parliamentary speaker.
