Moldovan President Maia Sandu has appointed Foreign Minister Aurel Ciocoi as acting prime minister.
Sandu announced the appointment on Facebook on December 31, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Ion Chicu last week.
Sandu defeated pro-Russian President Igor Dodon in an election last month on a platform of combating corruption and building on her country’s Association Agreement with the European Union.
Ciocoi, a career diplomat, previously served as Dodon’s foreign policy adviser. Under Moldova’s constitution, Sandu was obliged to choose an acting prime minister from among the outgoing cabinet.
Sandu has asked the Constitutional Court to weigh in on a request by parliamentary deputies from the Party of Action and Solidarity -- which Sandu headed before becoming president -- to allow parliament to dissolve itself and hold snap elections.
“I hope that the court will consider this request…in a few days,” Sandu said on December 31.