TĂNASE v. MOLDOVA JUDGMENT 13 62. The Communist Party subsequently sought to elect a president of the Republic. However, on two separate occasions they failed to obtain the 61 Parliamentary votes required for the election of the president. Accordingly, on 15 June 2009, Parliament was dissolved. Fresh parliamentary elections were called for 29 July 2009. 63. Prior to the dissolution of Parliament, it once again amended the electoral legislation, lowering the electoral threshold from 6% to 5% and lowering the mandatory rate of participation from 51% to one-third of registered voters. The opposition expressed concern about the amendments, arguing that they were intended to help the Christian Democratic People’s Party, an ally of the Communist Party in the previous Parliament, clear the electoral threshold and enter Parliament. 64. In the meantime, a prominent figure from the Communist Party and Speaker of the previous Parliament, Mr Marian Lupu, quit the Communist Party and became the leader of a small party, the Democratic Party, which had not cleared the electoral threshold in the April 2009 elections. 65. In the elections of 29 July 2009, five parties cleared the electoral threshold: the Communist Party obtained 48 seats; the Liberal Democratic Party obtained 18 seats; the Liberal Party obtained 15 seats; the Democratic Party obtained 13 seats; and the Our Moldova Alliance obtained 7 seats. The latter four parties formed a coalition called the Alliance for European Integration. The coalition had 53 seats in total and thus a majority in Parliament. 66. The applicant was re-elected. His mandate was subsequently confirmed by the Constitutional Court, upon production of the documents showing that he had initiated a procedure to renounce his Romanian nationality (see paragraph 60 above). 67. The majority elected Mr Mihai Ghimpu as Speaker on 28 August 2009. On 11 September 2009 the President of Moldova, Mr Vladimir Voronin, resigned. Under the Moldovan Constitution, Mr Ghimpu, in his capacity as Speaker, assumed the role of acting President until the election of a president in due course. 68. Since 25 September 2009 Moldova has been governed by the Alliance for European Integration coalition. On that date, Mr Vlad Filat was formally appointed Prime Minister and a number of ministers were also formally appointed. The applicant was appointed Minister of Justice. Under Moldovan law, the applicant will retain his mandate as an MP for six months following his appointment as Minister. 69. On 10 November 2009 Parliament made a first attempt to elect Mr Marian Lupu as President. Mr Lupu was not elected as the required 61 votes in favour were not obtained. The Communist Party refused to participate in the vote. A second attempt to elect a president was made on 7 December 2009. Again, the attempt was unsuccessful as a result of the failure to obtain the 61 votes required.