Moldova’s president named businessman and former minister Dorin Recean as the country’s prime minister-designate after the top government job fell vacant on Friday when Natalia Gavrilita unexpectedly resigned 18 months into her crisis-torn tenure.
President Maia Sandu told a news conference that members of the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) have accepted her choice of Recean as the new prime minister.
“I know that we need unity and a lot of work to get through the difficult period we are facing. The difficulties of 2022 postponed some of our plans, but they did not stop us,” Sandu said, adding that in 2023 he wants to focus on renewing key areas such as Moldova’s economy and its judicial sector.
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Recean, a 48-year-old economist who served as interior minister from 2012 to 2015, will have 15 days to form a new government and present it to parliament for a vote.
Recean said it will “proceed immediately” with the creation of a new government and its main goal will be to introduce “order and discipline” into Moldova’s institutions, breathe new life into the economy and ensure peace and stability.
Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita announces her resignation during a press conference in Chisinau, Moldova, on February 10, 2023. The President of Moldova has appointed Dorin Recean as the country’s next Prime Minister. (AP Photo/Aurel Obreja)
Following her resignation on Friday, Gavrilita, a 41-year-old economist who was appointed prime minister in August 2021, told a news conference that her government “could have moved further and faster” if it had won the same support and confidence. nationally as she did from other European countries.
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Gavrilita’s premiership was marked by a long series of troubles. These include a sharp energy crisis after Moscow slashed supplies to Moldova and skyrocketing inflation in the wake of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. On top of that, the missiles of the war streaked across the skies over Moldova.
He also said that no one expected his government “to have to handle so many crises caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine.”
“I took office with an anti-corruption, pro-development and pro-European mandate at a time when corruption schemes had captured all the institutions and the oligarchs felt untouchable,” Gavrilita said. “We were immediately confronted with energy blackmail, and those who did it expected us to relent.”
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“The bet of our country’s enemies was that we would act like previous governments, which gave up energy interests, which betrayed the national interest in exchange for short-term benefits,” he added.
Sandu thanked Gavrilita on Friday for his “enormous sacrifice and effort to lead the country at a time of so many crises.”
