Moldova's pro-Western leadership is coming under increased pressure to call early parliamentary elections to help one of Europe's poorest countries out of a year-long political impasse which paralyses reform, according to Reuters. The ex-Soviet republic of 4.1 million has been without a head of state since September and rivalry between the ruling Alliance for European Integration and opposition Communists has repeatedly doomed attempts to elect a new one. For months now, the two blocs in the European Union aspirant have pushed rival plans for electoral reform and even turned to European institutions for advice -- but neither side appears ready for compromise. Analysts say the deadlock is draining away the political energy needed to enact reform in the tiny republic, locked between Ukraine and EU member Romania, where average pay is less than $300 a month. "Moldova needs this political crisis to be solved as quickly as possible," political analyst Vitalii Andrievschii told Reuters. On the one side, acting President Mihai Ghimpu, a fierce anti-communist, is fighting off pressure to dissolve parliament and call new elections -- apparently fearing the Communists would fare better in them than the four Alliance parties. The Alliance parties want to change the constitution so that the president is elected by a popular vote, rather than by parliament. This would play into their hands now since their candidate -- charismatic leftist politician Marian Lupu -- is regarded as a sure election winner. But the powerful Communists, rallied around ex-president Vladimir Voronin, are pressing Ghimpu to dissolve parliament in late June and fix an election date to produce a new assembly to choose a president. They oppose the idea of a presidential election by universal suffrage since -- apart from the 68-year-old Voronin who has served two terms already as president -- they have no candidate who could beat Lupu at the polls, analysts say. Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and EU member Romania, suffers from widespread corruption, its media has a tradition of toeing the line of those in power and the judiciary, police and state security apparatus are politicised. Diplomats say the country urgently needs reform for it to be taken seriously as a possible EU member one day. Since a pro-Western leadership took over in July 2009, it has signed up to a three-year $590 million bail-out programme from the International Monetary Fund on condition it keeps a tight rein on the budget. The IMF particularly wants Moldova to hold its budget deficit to 7 percent of gross domestic product in 2010 and a two per cent GDP growth. With an economy driven by agricultural and wine production for which there is mainly regional demand, Moldova suffered a sharp fall in trade during the global crisis. But the level of remittances from Moldovans working abroad, a vital source of income, is up on last year, according to statistics, and there are other signs of a flickering recovery. PUTTING THE CASE TO EUROPE Ghimpu has taken his case for a change in the constitution to Europe. Speaking in Strasbourg on Wednesday, he said he backed a referendum to change constitutional rules for electing a president. He said the referendum could give the go-ahead for the president to be elected by parliament by a simple majority on a one-off basis and thereafter by a people's vote. That could see a new head of state elected in the autumn, he said. But Ghimpu has won little backing for this idea from the Strasbourg-based 'Venice Commission' on European democracy which is pressing him to hold early parliamentary elections. As long as the crisis continues, the more strains are appearing among the four coalition partners whose parties cover a wide spectrum of political opinion from right to centre-left. "The members of the Alliance relate too differently to the historical past and, more importantly, to the development of Moldova in relations with East and West," said analyst Andrievschii. But one important date -- June 16 -- is coming up fast on the horizon for Ghimpu and his Alliance partners. That date marks one year since the last dissolution of parliament. Under the constitution, he must call new elections sometime after that date. The constitution, however, does not lay down how quickly he must do this. The Venice Commission says only that Ghimpu should act "within a reasonable timeframe". The Alliance holds 53 seats in the 101-seat assembly, with the rest held mainly by the Communists. The Alliance tried twice in late 2009 to get Lupu elected by parliament but each time failed to win any defectors from the Communist bloc which would have given it the required 61 votes. The Alliance came to power in a snap election in July 2009 following violent street protests in Chisinau three months earlier over an election, won by the Communists but judged fraudulent by the opposition.
