Dorin Chirtoacă

Dorin Chirtoacă (2009)

Dorin Chirtoacă (born August 9, 1978 in Colonița ) is a Moldovan politician. He is chairman of the Liberal Party and was mayor of the Moldovan capital Chișinău from June 18, 2007 to February 16, 2018 .

life and career

Dorin Chirtoacă was born in Colonița, a suburb of Chișinău, which at that time still belonged to the Soviet Union. He comes from a family with extensive connections to the pro-Romanian national movement in Moldova. His uncle Gheorghe Ghimpu was an anti-Soviet dissident and, together with Mihai Ghimpu , another uncle of Chirtoacă, was one of the co-founders of Frontul Popular din Moldova , which from 1989 onwards contributed significantly to Moldova's independence from the Soviet Union. Chirtoacă also has personal connections to the former Romanian President Traian Băsescu .

Chirtoacă spent his studies in Romania, first in Iași and later in Bucharest . In 2001 he graduated from Bucharest University with a law degree . From 2001 to 2003 he was a presenter at the Romanian television channel TVR 1 . He then returned to his homeland and worked for the Moldovan Helsinki Committee until 2005 . In 2005 he became deputy chairman of the Liberal Party , of which his uncle Mihai Ghimpu was the party president at the time.

In the mayoral elections in 2007 Chirtoacă was elected mayor of the capital Chișinău in a runoff election with 61% of the vote. He clearly prevailed as a challenger against Veaceslav Iordan (38%).

In December 2007 tensions arose between the pro-Western Chirtoacă and the pro-Russian President Vladimir Voronin . Chirtoacă wanted to put up a Christmas tree in the city center on December 25, but the government banned this. For this reason, he received a fine from the traffic police ( Poli Strafia Rutieră ) for MDL 5500, - (EUR 325, -). The background was that Christmas in Moldova is officially celebrated in the Russian Orthodox way on January 7th. On December 25th, however, Christmas is celebrated in neighboring Romania .

Chirtoacă with his uncle Mihai Ghimpu

When mass protests broke out after the parliamentary elections in April 2009 , Chirtoacă was one of the key figures in the pro-Western opposition.

On June 14, 2015, Chirtoacă won the mayoral election for the third time in the second ballot with 53.5 percent of the vote against the pro-Russian socialist Zinaida Greceanii. The chairman of the Socialist Party, Igor Dodon , immediately spoke of an election fraud and appealed to a court. This prompted a recount.

From 2016 onwards there were increasing indications that Chirtoacă was involved in corruption scandals. On May 25, 2017, at the instigation of the National Anti-Corruption Center, he was arrested along with seven other members of the Chișinău City Council and placed under house arrest the next day. On July 28, 2017, he was officially suspended as mayor of the capital until the allegations were clarified and finally dismissed on February 16, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7158894.stm
2. ↑ Pro-European wins mayoral election in Moldova's capital , Die Zeit from June 29, 2015
3. ↑ ^{a b} Acting pro-European mayor won in Moldova , Salzburger Nachrichten of June 29, 2015
4. ↑ Transnistria threatens to break off contact with Moldova , Der Standard of June 29, 2015
5. ↑ http://www.realitatea.md/tentativa-e-uata-decizia-de-a-organiza-referendumul-pentru-demiterea-lui-chirtoaca-nu-a-trecut-prin-cmc-video_45080.html
6. ↑ https://www.zdg.md/stiri/stiri-justitie/foto-ultima-ora-dorin-chirtoaca-paraseste-primaria-insotit-de-ofiterii-cna
7. ↑ https://en.crimemoldova.com/news/politics/dorin-chirtoaca-was-suspended-from-office/

Web links

Commons : Dorin Chirtoacă  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• CV on the party website (Moldovan, viewed September 4, 2008)