Moldovan riot police regained control of the president’s office and parliament early yesterday after they were ransacked by protesters who say parliamentary elections were rigged.
A reporter saw about 100 riot police surround the buildings, which had been stormed a day earlier by protesters who set fire to furniture and hurled computers out of the windows.
More than 50 people were injured.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Police arrested 193 people, including eight minors, on charges of “hooliganism and robbery” following the protests against the ruling Communist Party’s victory in weekend elections, Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Ala Meleca said.
Authorities yesterday cleared streets littered with smashed computers and furniture from the parliament building. They swept up burnt documents and shards of glass. Every window on the first six floors of the 11-story parliament building had been smashed.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin yesterday accused Romania of being behind the protests and declared its ambassador to Moldova, Filip Teodorescu, persona non grata, Russian language news agency Newsmoldova said.
Romania’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
Moldova was part of Romania until 1940.
On Tuesday the president blamed pro-European opposition parties in his country for the violence, calling them “fascists [who] want to destroy democracy and independence in Moldova.”
Voronin’s Communist Party, which has been in power since 2001, won about 50 percent of the vote in Sunday elections.
The violence started on Tuesday after at least 10,000 mostly young protesters gathered outside parliament, demanding new elections.
The demonstrations continued yesterday.
International observers said Moldova’s election was fair, but Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, deputy leader of the opposition Liberal Party, said many people voted more than once.
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CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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