It took only 32 minutes. On the evening of 20 January, Pavel Filip, leader of Moldova’s new government, managed to present his programme, to answer questions and call for a vote from MPs. As people in Chișinău began to protest outside the parliament building, Filip’s government won the vote. Several protesters forced their way through the back doors into the parliament building; others started a fire around the corner.
This vandalism was, of course, condemned by all parties, but it was, at least, understandable. After all, Moldova’s new government had also come to power through the back door with a contested majority.
Filip’s majority was formed in part thanks to 26 MPs “collected” from Moldova’s communist and liberal democratic parties. All of a sudden, these MPs abandoned their parties, “embracing social democracy” and “saving the European dream”. Liberals and democrats were thus united with former communists — quite a development for Moldova. The key word, of course, was “stability”.
