Words of Moldova’s Constitutional Court chair misinterpreted

The chairman of Moldova's Constitutional Court, Dumitru Pulbere, told reporters that in compliance with the constitutional norms one and the same person can occupy the presidential office only for two consecutive terms.

"Pulbere cannot make official statements on the issue, whether Voronin can or cannot run fro the post, as there was not official request to the Constitutional Court," the spokesman said.

The head of Moldova's Communist Party, Vladimir Voronin, was Moldova's president from 2001 to 2009. Since September 2009 until now the republic's parliamentary speaker, Mihai Ghimpu, fulfils the functions of the Acting President, as parliamentarians fail to elect a new head of state for almost a year.

In July the parliament decided to hold a referendum on September 5 for people to vote how to elect the country's president - in the parliament or to hold the elections by popular vote.

Parliamentarians believe that this gives hope that the long-simmering political crisis in Moldova will be overcome.

The decision was supported by the republic's ruling coalition Alliance for European Integration that unites the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party and Our Moldova Alliance. However, the Communist Party that controls almost 50 percent of the seats in the parliament called for boycotting the referendum; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.