CHISINAU -- Parliamentary leaders in Moldova have met in an extraordinary session in the latest attempt to form a government following inconclusive elections in February.
The Socialist Party and the right-center ACUM bloc, which together control 61 seats out of 101, convened the June 8 session, at which they signed an agreement on political cooperation.
However, the Constitutional Court has responded affirmatively to a request by the Democratic Party, which controls 30 mandates, to nullify the proceedings.
Representatives of the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party on June 7 failed to reach an agreement on cooperation.
The rump parliament voted to approve Socialist Party leader Zenaida Greceanii as speaker and voted on other key parliamentary leadership posts.
ACUM leader Maia Sandu was approved as prime minister.
The Constitutional Court almost immediately issued a statement invalidating the proceedings.
"The court finds the decision of June 8, 2019, taken by the members of the 10th parliament to elect Zinaida Greceanii to the post of speaker of parliament to be unconstitutional," the court's statement said.
The court also declared all future decisions of the parliament invalid as well.
Moldova's pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, a former head of the Socialist Party, attended the extraordinary session to support the last-minute effort to form a government.
The office of European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini issued a statement calling for "calm and restraint," adding that "the European Union expects the Republic of Moldova…to respect the rule of law and guarantee democracy."
Peter Michalko, the European Union's ambassador to Moldova, posted on Facebook that "democratically elected representatives should decide the outcome of the political process."
Under Moldovan law, if parliament fails to form a government within three months of the certification of election results, the president can dissolve the legislature and call new elections.
The February elections were certified on March 9, and analysts have assumed that the deadline for forming a new government is June 9.
However, on June 7, the Constitutional Court ruled that the deadline was actually June 7, 90 days after the certification.
In addition, there is a dispute about whether the president must dissolve parliament. The Constitutional Court ruled that he must, while Dodon argues that the president has the option of allowing continued efforts to form a government.
The Democratic Party has said they will ask the Supreme Court to rule on the matter.
