Copy of former Communist President's guest list for event gives insight into what public figures he disliked, including national poet Grigore Vieru

Jurnal de Chisinau recently received a copy of a guest list for the Day of the Republic in 2008, which had to be approved by then-Moldovan President and current Party of Communists (PC) head Vladimir Voronin.

The list shows a message from Presidential advisor Tudor Vasilica, which says that he "awaits your orders" regarding who should be eliminated from the list.

The people eliminated from being invited to the event include Grigore Vieru, Moldova's national poet, who recently passed away, famous academic Mihai Cimpoi, writer Aureliu Busuioc, and others.

Foreign businesspeople also seem to have displeased the former President. Cell phone company Orange head Bruno Dutoit was erased from the list, as were representatives from Lafarge and Veneto Banca.

The Communists became notorious for picking favorites and providing perks for them when they were in power, as well as ostracizing opponents. Mr. Voronin had a very tense relationship with a big chunk of civil society, which tends to be more pro-Western and which criticized the President's authoritarian tendencies.

h/t www.jurnal.md