Moldova’s president nominates ex-adviser for prime minister

CHISINAU, Moldova – Mouldova’s president says he is nominating his former adviser as the country’s next prime minister.

President Igor Dodon nominated Ion Chicu, also a former finance minister, on Wednesday, a day after the government of Maia Sandulost a no-confidence vote in parliament.

Chicu was touted by Dodon as a technocrat with no political affiliation. He has 15 days to form a Cabinet and then get approval from lawmakers.

If no one secures parliamentary support for a new government within three months, early elections would be called.

Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe, plagued by corruption and political turmoil. The country of 2.7 million people has been a politically strategic area for the West and Russia since it won independence after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.