In humorous attempt to call them out for bias, former Communist M.P. gives TV station reporters a cooked duck

Former Communist M.P. Vladimir Turcan held a press conference today. Mr. Turcan, along with three other Communist M.P.s, left the Party of Communists in December 2009 because of displeasure with the party's decision not to vote for a president and thusly push for early legislative elections. The four have joined the Moldova Unita [United Moldova] Party.

At one point during the conference, Mr. Turcan gave reporters from the NIT television station a cooked duck. Analysts and independent media reports have established that NIT's coverage of the news tends to have a pro-Communist bias. In Russian a duck ("utka"), figuratively speaking, means a piece of false information. NIT has said, for example, that Moldova Unita is a project of Prime Minister Vlad Filat's, meant to compromise the Party of Communists.

The duck was tied with a red bow. Mr. Turcan emphasized that it is edible.

The NIT reporter who picked up the delicious fowl ended up leaving it in the press conference room. Unimedia has interesting footage from the ground.