On Sunday, tens of thousands of Moldovans took to the streets for a rally organised by the country’s Socialist Party in conjunction with the unofficial Nasha Partiya (Our Party), led by Renato Usatii, a businessman and mayor of Bălți, the country’s second largest city. The organisers put the number of protesters at 45,000, although the police claim 20,000 as a more reasonable figure. Chișinău's central square still hosts several dozen tents.
The climax of the rally was a resolution demanding the resignation of the heads of all Moldova’s law enforcement agencies as well as its Central Election Commission and public television channels, as well as the removal of parliamentary privilege of all those responsible for the removal of $1bn from three Moldovan banks before parliamentary elections in November last year. The protesters also want to force the resignation of President Nikolae Timofti, a vote of no confidence in the government of Valeriu Streleț and a return to direct presidential elections. And finally, they expect the dissolution of parliament and an early general election, to be held not later than March 2016.
The deadline for these demands to be met is 2 October. Otherwise the leaders of the left wing protest movement are threatening to switch to 'Plan B', the details of which are yet to be made public.
