Professional Documents
Culture Documents
12958: DECL:
09/15/2019 TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, EAID, PINR, RS, MD SUBJECT: EX-PRESIDENT VORONIN
Classified by: Ambassador Asif J. Chaudhry for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) REFS: (A) Chisinau 685; (B)
Chisinau 694
1. (C) Summary: In a September 14 meeting with the Ambassador, Ex-President Vladimir Voronin
said that his Communist Party (PCRM) would participate in Parliamentary committees, and would
support issues related to European integration and neutrality, while eschewing extremism and
separatism and fighting against Romanian influence over the country. He predicted that the four-
party Alliance for European Integration (AIE) would be unable to work together, and vowed that
his party would not vote for an Alliance-proposed Presidential candidate -- in fact, the PCRM
would begin preparing for early repeat elections. Voronin acknowledged that there was a split
2. (S) The ex-President also confirmed what Democratic Party leader Lupu had told us earlier that
the two had met privately twice (Refs A and B) and that Voronin had proposed forming a "left-
center" coalition government with Voronin as Speaker, Lupu as President, and Greceanii as Prime
Minister. Although Lupu had refused -- Voronin suspected due to pressure from abroad -- Voronin
told the Ambassador that this offer was still open. The Ambassador told Voronin that the USG
had neither financed nor supported formation of the Alliance (as Voronin had claimed in a recent
interview), but was dedicated only to supporting democracy and transparency in Moldova. End
Summary.
Voronin's Resignation According to the Law
3. (C) In a September 14 meeting with the Ambassador, Ex-President Vladimir Voronin explained
that he had resigned from the Presidency on September 11 in a "strictly legal" way by sending
his resignation letter to the Secretariat of the Parliament. Voronin noted that he could easily
have waited until a new President was sworn in, as Article 88 of the Constitution says that the
President holds his position until a new President is elected, but said that with the new political
configuration in Parliament, he did not want to remain. He said that after resigning, he had left his
office in the Presidential building to avoid any possibility of using state resources that no longer
belonged to him.
PCRM in Parliament
4. (C) Voronin said that the PCRM had decided to participate actively in the work of the
Parliament, including accepting the four committee chairmanships and the four seats in the
Permanent Bureau designated for the party. However, he said the PCRM would not accept the
Deputy Speaker position which had been offered to the party, in order to avoid being in a position
of leadership in the government. The party would participate in those bodies that were considered
internal management of the Parliament and other parliamentary activities, such as delegations to
Europe, or NATO, he said, while doing their best to function as a constructive opposition.
5. (C) Voronin also said that, while in Parliament, the PCRM would support progressive resolutions
pertaining to European integration, neutrality, or settlement of the Transnistria issue. The PCRM
would support the independence of Moldova, but would eschew nationalism, extremism and
separatism. They would fight against Romanian influence in the country, and would not support
any measures aimed at unification with Romania.
6. (C) Voronin acknowledged a split within the PCRM. He said that after the party's victory in
CHISINAU 00000711 002 OF 003 2005, it should have been a homogeneous party. However, he
said, one can now notice a split -- it is as if there were two parties. One, he termed, the "party
of power," those people who had come into the party when it was the ruling party, in order to
get government positions, posts, and medals. Though his thought trailed off, and he did not
specifically name the other wing, presumably he meant those who had been with the party for
longer, and were the more loyal, more ideological members of the party. Now, he said, it would be
7. (C) Voronin noted that the Alliance had come to Parliament, not as one team, but as four
separate teams. Though the Alliance parties were currently successfully working together, Voronin
predicted that later on they would "face difficulties" because their leaders were unable to work
together. The Alliance had a narrow majority of 53 seats, and Voronin noted that it will be difficult
8. (C) Furthermore, Voronin said his party could not support any candidate for President
nominated by the Alliance. The PCRM would refuse to participate in the presidential election on
principle, he said, regardless of the individual nominated. Thus he said, from that day on, he would
be preparing the party for early elections in 2010. (Voronin also added that the Constitution did
not provide a clear understanding of when exactly early elections should be held, but only said
that the elections could not be held more than twice in one year.)
9. (S) Voronin told the Ambassador he had met twice recently with Democratic Party Leader
(PCRM defector) Marian Lupu, in private tete-a-tete meetings. Voronin said that he had pointed
out to Lupu that with the PCRM's 48 votes and Lupu's 13, the two together could elect a President,
and then directly proposed a joint government with Voronin as Speaker, Lupu as President and
Greceanii as Prime Minister. According to Voronin, Lupu had "looked lost," but said that he could
not accept such an offer. Voronin did not verbally admit that he had offered a bribe to Lupu
(reftel), but in response to the Ambassador's question about what the president had said at that
meeting, Voronin laughed broadly, made facial gestures and gave a thumbs-up gesture that
without words seemed an unspoken confirmation that he knew we knew, though since it was all
non-verbal we cannot be sure. Voronin said he had further proposed bringing Urechean into the
coalition; adding Urechean's seven seats would give Voronin's left- center coalition a total of 68,
10. (S) Voronin also said he believed that Lupu was under the influence of "an external power,"
although he said he did not know whether it was "Russia, Romania, or the United States."
Otherwise, Voronin could not understand why Lupu would refuse his offer. Voronin noted that
Lupu had recently met with former Romanian President Iliescu, and that Lupu had also visited
Moscow twice, where he had met Russian President Medvedev's Chief of Staff. Regarding the
Russia visit, Voronin said he was surprised that even given Russian advice, Lupu had refused his
(Voronin's) offer. Asked if he was sure that the Russians had said this, Voronin made the sign of
the cross to swear and said that he had personally told the Russians to do so.
11. (S) Even though Lupu had refused, said Voronin, this proposal was still open. Voronin said he
continued to believe that forming a left- center coalition with Lupu and Urechean was the ideal
scenario, and predicted direly that if Lupu did cooperate, he (Lupu) would become a "political
12. (C) Responding to Voronin's statements in Echo Moscvi the day before that the USG had
financed the Alliance's electoral victory (and to Voronin's suggestion that the USG might be
controlling Lupu), the Ambassador explained that throughout both rounds of elections, the USG
had only one desire: that the process be fair and transparent. He underscored that the U.S.
played no role in forming the Alliance. The Ambassador also told Voronin that he believed the ex-
13. (C) Voronin acknowledged that the government had to change, but said that he was concerned
about the Alliance and their ability to run the country. He said he was bothered by what he
termed as their "hunger for positions of power," noting scornfully that the country was not run by
just by the President and Speaker, but by professional specialists. Voronin said that if this group
ran the country for four years, without any idea of what to do, this would be more dangerous
for Moldova than early elections. Voronin was particularly concerned about the potential role of
Romania, suggesting that if Romania would support this Alliance, it would be "a tragedy."
14. (C) Voronin claimed to be particularly concerned that an Alliance government would lead to an
increase in corruption and that the distribution of positions in the new government would itself
be based on graft. During the years in power, the PCRM had fought against organized crime, he
said, but now according to information he was receiving, those structures were returning. Voronin
claimed that entrepreneurs were now being visited by people saying that these businesses had not
paid (protection money) for some 6-7 years, but that it was now time to start paying again.
15. (S) We note that Voronin's account of his meetings with Lupu tracks with what Lupu told
the Ambassador about these meetings, which raises our confidence level in the honesty of both
interlocutors in their relations with us. We also note that it appears that Voronin is still hoping
to lure Lupu back to the fold and split the Alliance. However, although used to calling the shots,
Voronin is now an ex-President with diminished ability to influence events. The only real card he
holds now is denying the Alliance the eight votes they need to elect Lupu as President, and thus
forcing repeat elections. However, this is a dangerous gamble for Voronin, since most analysts
at this point predict that PCRM is likely to have an even poorer showing in any future round of