Moldova’s Prime Minister steps down as political crisis

Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and his cabinet on Friday rendered their resignation to Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti in a bid to resolve the raging political crisis which led to the paralysis of the state’s executive and legislative bodies since last December. The crisis raged when corruption scandals involving many of the country’s political figures were unearthed one after the other. The resignation came hours after the Moldovan parliament voted to withdraw confidence from the government. Speaker of the Parliament Marian Lupo announced that an early parliamentary election is an option as the country seeks to end the current political crisis. The authorities launched back in February this year criminal probes against three ministers implicated in corruption scandals. The probes have raised tensions within the pro-EU ruling coalition created when a leading businessman was accidentally shot dead earlier this year on a hunting trip with top officials. AFP reported earlier this year that Finance Minister Veaceslav Negruta is being investigated over the payment of 400,000 euros compensation to a businessman named Petru Sandulchai after a court decision went against him. The other two ministers were Culture Minister Boris Focsa for reportedly being involved in the illegal privatization of a historic building, the third was Health Minister Andrei Usatii is under investigation for reportedly using a hospital as collateral for a bank credit.