Moldova parliament fails to elect president, crisis deepens

Moldova parliament fails to elect president, crisis deepensChisinau - Moldova's Communist-ruled parliament on Wednesday failed to elect a new president, deepening the political crisis in the former Soviet republic.

A total of 60 Communist Party members of parliament in Moldova's 101-seat legislature voted in favour of Communist candidate Zinaida Greceanii, one ballot short of the necessary 61 vote support required to select a chief executive.

Three opposition parties controlling 41 seats in Moldova's 101-seat parliament held firm against Communist calls to cross party lines and support Greceanii, instead refusing en bloc to cast ballots in the show down vote.

Moldova's legislature failed to select Greceanii once before, on May 20.

The Moldovan constitution requires the sitting president to declare a hung parliament and call for new elections, if parliament attempts and fails to select his replacement two times in a row.

New elections should come 45 days after the president declares parliament dissolved, and calls for new elections, according to constitutional statute.

Senior opposition officials in recent months have repeatedly accused sitting President Vladimir Voronin, who also heads Moldova's Communist party, of fixing the results of an April 5 parliamentary election giving the Communists 60 seats in the legislature.

Voronin has denied the allegations.

Opposition demonstrators on April 7 protesting the alleged vote fraud set the parliament building on fire, and broke into the presidential residence.

One person died and some 300 were injured in street fighting between mostly students on the opposition side and police.

Voronin accused opposition leaders of inciting the mostly student-age crowd to violence.

International observers said the vote itself was generally free and fair, but in addition charged state-run Moldovan media and some regional government officials of openly supporting the Communists during the election campaign.(dpa)