Communists: Alliance members threatening us with criminal prosecution if we don't vote for a President

ProTV hosted a debate yesterday between Justice Minister and Liberal Democratic M.P. Alexandru Tanase and Communist M.P. Iurie Muntean.

The two mostly spoke about the presidential election. Mr. Tanase stressed that the legislature needs to elect a head of state. The ruling Alliance for European Integration, of which Mr. Tanase is a member, currently holds 53 seats in the legislature, eight short of the 61 votes it needs to vote in a President. Those votes can only come from the Party of Communists, which has been very ambiguous about its willingness to offer up the votes.

At one point during the program, Mr. Muntean said that the ruling Alliance is threatening the Communists with criminal prosecution if they refuse to vote for a President, but stressed that "we are not afraid."

Talks between the Alliance and the Communists have been very tense, and there is a possibility that Moldova will witness early legislative elections in 2010 if the presidential election fails.

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