Moldovan court temporarily suspends president's powers

By Dmitri Chirciu

ANKARA (AA) – The Constitutional Court of Moldova temporarily suspended the powers of the country’s president on Monday, according to the local media.

The court ruling came after President Igor Dodon refused to approve two names suggested by Prime Minister Pavel Filip for ministerial posts.

Nikolai Ciubuc was proposed to be minister of agriculture and regional development, while Silvia Radu was set to be the minister for health care, social protection, and family.

The decision was made after the members of the Democratic Party, who are members of the government, applied to the Constitutional Court.

According to the ruling, the parliament speaker will act for the president.

In a response to the court’s decision, Dodon said on his Facebook account that the proposed names did not meet the conditions to become a minister.

Dodon, who had been suspended three times before, said the professionalism of the constitutional court judges and their independence should be questioned.

His powers were suspended in 2017 and 2018 over the refusal of appointing the names put forward by the government and Filip.