September 24 (SeeNews) - Moldova's Constitutional Court on Monday ruled that president Igor Dodon can be temporarily suspended from office after he refused to swear in two new ministers.
The president's repeated refusal to make appointments based on nominations by the prime minister constitutes a violation of his constitutional obligations and oath, according to the court ruling published on its website.
Consequently, either the president of the parliament or the prime minister will act as interim president with the right to sign the decrees appointing the ministers, the court added.
On Monday, Dodon dismissed the ruling of the court, claiming that it is acting as a political tool.
Eartlier this month, Moldova's ruling Democratic Party (PDM) decided to replace two under-performing ministers.
The two new ministers to be appointed are Silvia Radu for the health ministry and Nicolae Ciubuc for the ministry of agriculture, regional development and environment.
Dodon said that while Silvia Radu is unfit profesionally for the job, Ciubuc cannot be named as a minister because he does not fulfil the integrity criteria for the job.
This is the third time that Dodon is suspended by the country's top court.
The last time was in January, also due to his refusal to swear in several ministers.
In mid-October 2017, the constitutional court ruled that Dodon can be suspended from office after he refused twice to swear in a new defence minister proposed by PDM.