In yet another show of the power of the social media young people in Moldova actively used Twitter and other types of social media to call protesters and to take on streets protesting against unfair parliamentary elections in this former soviet republic located east of Romania.
Observers already call today's events as Moldova's Twitter Revolution.
As EU Observer writes "Moldova is the latest country in Europe to collapse into crisis after a contested election. Some 15.000 people, communicating through web-sites like ‘Twitter’, took to the street to protest against unfair elections taking control of the Parliament and Presidential Palace. The protests follow on from Georgia’s Rose revolution in 2004, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2005, and the killing of ten protestors against election fraud in Armenia in March 2008."
The president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin has today vowed to repel the 'Coup' after protests turned violent.
Reuters had reported that three main opposition leaders met with Voronin and Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii in response to the violence. Several agencies then suggested both sides agreed that the ballots would be counted again.
But the chairman of the country's national election commission, Iurie Ciocan, told RFE/RL's Moldovan Service that reports that attributed to him the news of a breakthrough and a recount were incorrect.
Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, whose pro-Western Liberal Party placed third in the elections and who was reportedly present for the meeting, said he was told by government and parliamentary representatives that they had no authority to order a recount.
Violent Turn Of Events
Clashes between police and some of the more than 10,000 protesters who came out for the second day of antigovernment demonstrations included the storming and ransacking of the offices of the president and of the parliamentary building across the street.
At a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Voronin reportedly warned organizers of antigovernment protests in the capital that turned violent and accompanied the storming of government buildings to end the "bacchanalia," and he said "challenging the election is no more than a pretext," according to Interfax The president went on to say that "this operation has been well-prepared, well-thought-out, and it looks like it's also been well-financed.
Monitors from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a preliminary report on April 6 that the elections took place in an "overall pluralistic environment." But the ODIHR noted that "further improvements are required to ensure an electoral process free from undue administrative interference and to increase public confidence."
Based on information from RFERL and EU Observer.
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