Power struggle

The ruling Communist Party in Moldova has approved its leader and current president of the republic, Vladimir Voronin, as a candidate for the post of speaker of the new parliament. This is the main decision of the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party held yesterday. The ruling party won the recent parliamentary elections, receiving 60 mandates out of 101 - this is enough for the communists to elect the governing bodies of parliament and approve the government.

But to elect a president, 61 mandates are required, so the communists will need at least one vote from the opposition. However, the leaders of the opposition parties - the Liberal, Liberal Democratic and Our Moldova alliance - have already threatened to boycott the election of the president in order to achieve new parliamentary elections. If the president fails to be elected after two attempts, parliament will be dissolved.

The plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party did not discuss candidacies for the post of president and prime minister yesterday. Previously, Kommersant sources close to the communists claimed that Vladimir Turcan was considered the main candidate for the role of successor to Comrade Voronin (who can no longer be elected president). In the previous parliament, he headed the legal commission, and before that he was ambassador to the Russian Federation and head of the Foreign Ministry. Yesterday the plenum recommended Comrade Turcan for the post of first deputy chairman of parliament.

Oleg Kommersant-Zorin

Somali pirates nearly hijacked an American warship

Somali pirates attempted to hijack an American military transport ship yesterday. According to a representative of the US 5th Fleet in Bahrain, sea bandits off the coast of Somalia approached the Lewis and Clark ship in two high-speed boats and fired at it. As a result of maneuvering, the Americans managed to avoid capture on the move and eventually the pirates stopped trying to board the ship. It is noteworthy that Lewis and Clark delivered weapons to US Navy ships patrolling the area off the coast of Somalia. Let us recall that in April, Somali pirates declared war on ships flying the US flag after three sea robbers were killed and one was captured as a result of an American special forces operation (see Kommersant on April 14). However, yesterday another pirate gang in the Gulf of Aden managed to board the Dutch cargo ship Marathon. According to East African Maritime Assistance Program spokesman Andrew Mwangura, the vessel is carrying between 8 and 18 crew members and a cargo of coke. As Mikhail Voitenko, editor-in-chief of the Maritime Bulletin-Sovfracht publication, believes, “there may also be Russian citizens among the sailors.”

Olga Kommersant-Berezintseva

The President of Moldova will become a speaker