As most eyes turn toward the postelection map, our Moldovan Service says Marian Lupu appears to have
quashed Communist hopes that they might entice Lupu's Democrats into a bipartite coalition.
The way the numbers looked at last count, the Communists and Democratic Party would have won enough combined seats to control parliament but not elect a president -- the same predicament that a united opposition faces with the Democratic Party on its side.
But at the risk of parsing his words to our Moldovan Service too aggressively, I'd say Lupu also left himself room to blame either side if talks fail:
Speaking after casting his ballot, Lupu said a "bilateral" deal with the Communists is "out of question."
He added, however, that his party would consider joining the Communists in a "grand coalition" government in which all the parties in parliament were included.
Huh?
If you haven't seen it, former OSCE envoy Louis O'Neill
pontificated on this scenario for us during yesterday's voting.
Natalia Morari has
added her voice to those urging Lupu to make his intentions crystal clear.
Plus, Russian analyst
Vitaly Portnikov is looking inside Lupu's soul. (Original Russian post is
here.)
Can anyone offer a scenario under which the Communists gain a legitimate majority other than with Lupu's help?
-- Andy Heil