Moldovan president urges end to post-election protests

CHISINAU, April 7 – Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin on Tuesday demanded an end to post-election protests in the capital Chisinau, Russia’s Interfax news agency said.

Earlier news reports said the protestors, who were against a Communist election victory, had stormed the parliament and the president’s office. 

The protests, involving about 10,000 demonstrators, came after the president, leading the ruling Communist Party, won a landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

The results will ensure that the ruling party maintains all three power branches in the former Soviet republic — the parliament, the presidency and the government — that have been held by the Communists since 2001.

Under Moldova’s Constitution, the country is a parliamentary republic, where the parliament elects the president and approves the candidacy of the prime minister along with members of the new cabinet.