These are not our people

Representatives of the Moldovan opposition say that they have nothing to do with the riots that happened on April 7 in Chisinau and are not responsible for them. “We do not support vandalism by protesters,” said the leader of the Union of Centrist Forces of Moldova, Vasily Tarlev, and admitted that he “would not like” the situation in the country to get out of control. He is echoed by a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Alexander Tanase, who assured that they are not going to take anyone out onto the streets. “Yesterday we went to the square to calm people down,” added Our Moldova representative Serafim Urikyan.

Even a representative of the “I am an anti-communist” committee, which, in fact, began organizing protests in Chisinau via the Internet due to disagreement with the results of the parliamentary elections, said that the committee would no longer do this. The committee has been dissolved, one of its members, Artur Gureu, told Interfax. “We wanted to hold a civilized protest. Unfortunately, in the afternoon it degenerated into an orgy. These are not our people, we disclaim responsibility for the action and are no longer involved in coordination,” he said.

The editors of the Daily Journal have not yet been able to contact journalist Natalya Morar, who was also a member of the “I am an anti-communist” committee and on April 7 stated that glass breaking and arson in the parliament building and the presidential administration were the work of provocateurs hired by the authorities. She also spoke out condemning opposition representatives who began to negotiate with the authorities, ignoring, in her opinion, the interests of the people who took to the streets.

The Moldovan Central Election Commission, meanwhile, nevertheless promised to consider the opposition’s demand for a recount of votes and, possibly, give an answer as early as April 8. Later, CEC Secretary Yuri Chokan said that the commission was ready to provide the opposition with access to vote counting protocols and voter lists. On April 10, the official results will be announced, and from then on, within 15 days, party representatives can “check those data that are in doubt,” after which the results will go to the Constitutional Court.

Police arrested more than 190 rioters. Meanwhile, in Chisinau, people are already gathering for the next protest. They are creating a committee to negotiate with the authorities, Interfax reports. The leaders of the main opposition parties, Liberal, Liberal Democratic and Our Moldova, are not on the committee.

The President of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, thought and thought and finally accused Romania of involvement in the protests. He ordered to tighten controls at the border and introduce a visa regime for Romanian citizens. The Romanian ambassador was declared persona non grata, the Moldovan ambassador in Bucharest was recalled for consultations.

There was a message about the arrest of one of the opposition leaders, head of the People's Action movement, Sergei Mocanu. There is no official confirmation of this information yet. Voronin promises to use force if unrest occurs again. “When the Romanian flag was raised over government buildings, the opposition's attempts to carry out a coup d'état became clear. We will not allow this,” he said.