CHISINAU. Dec 21 (Interfax) - Incumbent Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti has turned down Prime Minister Pavel Filip's proposal to dismiss Defense Minister Anatol Salaru, the Presidential Administration's Secretary General Ion Paduraru said.
"The president sees no grounds to dismiss Defense Minister Anatol Salaru. The minister has been performing his duties, he is developing cooperation with NATO and is ensuring national defense, and he has achieved substantial results in his work," Paduraru told the press.
In his words, the president did not find sufficient grounds to dismiss the minister. "President Nicolae Timofti has asked Prime Minister Pavel Filip to present additional arguments in favor of the dismissal of the defense minister and technicalities of the possible appointment of a new minister," he said.
Liberal Party leader Mihai Ghimpu, who delegated the minister to the government formed by the ruling coalition, is insisting that Salaru be dismissed. "There is no legal relationship, just political interaction between the president and the Liberal Party leader. The disagreements between Ghimpu and Salaru are a problem of the party, rather than the government. The Defense Ministry is an important governmental agency, and it is inadmissible to leave it without a leader. The simultaneous signing of two orders dismissing Salaru and appointing a new minister would be logical," Paduraru said.
The dismissal of Defense Minister Salaru was proposed after the Liberal Party revoked its political support for the minister a week ago. Ghimpu asked the prime minister and the president to dismiss the minister. By law, the president can dismiss a minister only with the prime minister's consent.
The opposition has been repeatedly trying to dismiss Salaru in the past six months. The demands were made by left-wingers, who referred to the dismantlement of Soviet-era monuments and appeals for Moldova's entry into NATO in violation of the constitutional principle of neutrality. However, the parliamentary majority has opposed the dismissal of Salaru every time, as the Liberal Party is a member of the ruling coalition.
Moldovan President-elect Igor Dodon said after his electoral victory that he would insist on Salaru's dismissal. He described the minister as 'a dangerous vuvuzela horn which would soon stop blowing'.