Moldova to call election after referendum poor turnout

Moldova’s pro-European leaders agreed yesterday to call new parliamentary elections to break a political deadlock after being dealt a humiliating setback on Sunday when a referendum flopped due to a poor turnout. As opposition Communists in the ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million revelled, the four-party Alliance for European Integration conceded they would now have to give in and call new elections as their opponents wanted.

“The situation … means we must now go to the Constitutional Court for advice on dissolving parliament and announcing a date for new elections,” Moldova’s acting president Mihai Ghimpu said on behalf of the Alliance’s four leaders.