Moldovan Presidential Candidate Refuses Communist Offer

CHISINAU -- Moldovan presidential candidate Marian Lupu says he is rejecting calls from the Communist parliamentary opposition to quit the Alliance for European Integration (AIE) in order to secure his election as president, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports.

Lupu told RFE/RL that "some people are trying to spread the rumor that the leader of the [democratic alliance] will do anything in order to become president."

Lupu said he wants to reject such allegations that he might leave the alliance in exchange for Communist votes for his presidential bid. He added that "we assumed the responsibility and the risks [when the various democratic parties formed the Alliance for European Integration] and we will continue to remain in the alliance."

The parliament last week postponed the parliamentary vote for a new president after the fragile, pro-Western AIE majority failed to persuade eight Communist deputies to defy their party and vote for Lupu.

Lupu, who heads one of the four democratic parties in the AIE, met on October 28 with Communist Party leader and former President Vladimir Voronin, who is determined to establish a new leftist majority.

But the meeting ended without any resolution over how to elect a president.

According to the Moldovan Constitution, if parliament fails to elect a president by November 11 then yet another round of early parliamentary elections must be held next year.