President announced start of consultations with parliamentary factions to nominate candidate for Prime Minister

President Maia Sandu has announced the launch of consultations with parliamentary factions to nominate a candidate for the position of prime minister, after Alexandru Munteanu announced his resignation today.

“In accordance with Article 98 of the Constitution, next week I will consult the parliamentary factions regarding the nomination of a candidate for the position of prime minister. We need to rethink several decisions, including on fiscal policy and the salary law. We must have in the government a united, strong team that will achieve our national objectives, namely accession to the European Union. Decisive steps are needed to implement economic development measures and to clean up the institutions,” Maia Sandu stated at a press conference.

The head of state thanked Alexandru Munteanu and the entire Government for their work.

“I thank Mr. Alexandru Munteanu for having taken responsibility for the Government during a complex period, when measures to relaunch the economy were needed, as well as the initiation of essential structural reforms. I appreciate the efforts made by him and by the entire Cabinet of Ministers in these months,” the president said.

Maia Sandu rejected some information circulated in the public space regarding Prime Minister Munteanu’s resignation.

“The speculations according to which he wanted to fight against abuses and was not allowed to do so are false. The prime minister had a free hand to lead the government as he considered right. He chose to leave. Reforms are difficult. Many things were started well and great efforts were made. Mr. Munteanu is a decent person. I was convinced, and I remain convinced, that he has the best intentions. But I expected more involvement in complicated decisions, more presence to listen to people, to explain what kind of reforms we must carry out and why we need to carry them out,” Maia Sandu said.

On this morning, Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu announced that he is stepping down after eight months in office.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, in the event of the resignation of the prime minister, the entire Government resigns. At the same time, the supreme law stipulates that in the event of the resignation of the prime minister, the Executive only performs the functions of managing public affairs until the members of a new Government are sworn in.

At the same time, under the legal provisions, the President of the Republic of Moldova must launch consultations with the parliamentary factions to nominate a new candidate for the position of prime minister.