Dodon

"Not only will we lose useful economic relations with our partners in the East due to the Russophobic policy we are pursuing together with the West, but we also risk losing some of our territories," Dodon announced on Telegram, reports TASS.
He assessed that, as a result, Moldova could disappear as an independent state.

Moldovan deputies taking a vote in the parliament. Photo: EPA/Doru Dumitru

"Maia Sandu will organise these elections from her office, as 120 million lei [about 6 million euros] are needed for the elections, and parliament will not vote for that," Dodon said, referencing the pro-EU President seeking early polls.

Sandu wants to seize the momentum following her presidential win to secure a parliament more aligned with her pro-European outlook. The assembly is currently controlled by Dodon's Socialists and their allies, who have balked at Sandu's two picks for prime minister.

And, as a parliamentary republic, the prerogatives of the new president are limited. Without the support of a parliamentary majority, which would then form a pro-European government, Sandu's political agenda will continuously be countered by Dodon and the PSRM.

The Socialists, together with the Democratic Party whose government they helped topple in June, won a no-confidence vote in the Sandu administration on November 12, unleashing another political crisis in Moldova.

Moldova's Constitutional Court said in its decision on Tuesday  there are "circumstances justifying the initiation by the Parliament of the procedure of suspension of the president", opening the door for the suspension of Dodon.

The Constitutional Court deemed that his failure to approve the appointment of a new defence minister meant he had fallen short of his constitutional duties.

Moldova's President Dodon attended Russia's annual showpiece Victory Day parade on Tuesday, standing directly next to Vladimir Putin as Russia marked 72 years since the victory of the Soviet Army over Nazi Germany.

Dodon was the only head of state from the former Soviet republics to attend the event.