CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) Moldova's Socialist Party (PSRM), led by former President Igor Dodon, protests against the decision of the Constitutional court to sell the land of the demolished Republican Stadium to the US embassy, calling on its supporters to be ready to take to the streets, the party's press office said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional court acknowledged the legitimacy of the law adopted in October 2018 on the sale of the stadium's territory to the United States for constructing its new embassy building.
"Moldova's Socialist Party expresses its utmost outrage over the decision of the Constitutional court to remain in force the illegal deal on the sale of the Republican Stadium's territory to the US embassy. We call all our supporters as well as all Moldavian citizens ... to be prepared for a nationwide protest action," the statement read.
The decision to privatize the stadium's territory was made with the full violation of transparency principles, the party said. According to the socialists, the court recognized the deal's validity due to "secret agreements between President Maia Sandu and US Ambassador Dereck Hogan" to support Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity during the recent parliamentary elections.
In October 2018, the Moldavian parliament adopted the law that legalized the memorandum between Chisinau and Washington to sell the stadium's land. However, Dodon, who was the Moldavian president at that time, returned the legislation to the parliament. Later, the Constitutional court temporarily suspended Dodon from his presidential duties, while Andrian Candu, the parliament's speaker, signed the law instead of the president.
Last December, the Moldavian parliament, where the PSRM had then the majority of seats, canceled the legislation on the sale of the land and confirmed it was a state property. However, the Party of Action and Solidarity appealed against the parliament's new decision in the Constitutional court.
The Republican Stadium was built in Chisinau in 1952. The authorities destroyed the arena in 2007 as it no longer met the sporting competition requirements and planned to construct a new national stadium there. However, Moldova was unable to find money to implement the project.
