Moldova president reports coup try
Election protests become violent
CHISINAU, Moldova - Moldova's president accused the opposition of attempting a violent coup yesterday after protesters denouncing his ruling Communist party's election victory ransacked his offices and set fire to Parliament.
Violence swept the capital of Europe's poorest country on the second day of protests against the victory of President Vladimir Voronin's ruling party in a weekend parliamentary election the opposition says was rigged.
One woman died and about a hundred people were injured after protesters overwhelmed riot police and seized the president's offices and Parliament amid widespread looting.
Voronin called on the West to help restore order after protesters waved Moldovan, Romanian, and European Union flags from the roof of the building where he has his offices.
"Everything that they have undertaken in the last 24 hours cannot be described as anything other than a coup d'etat," Voronin, the only Communist president in Europe, said in a television address.
"The authorities in Moldova will not allow groups of fascists intoxicated with hatred to trample on our democracy," he said, adding that opposition leaders had "embarked on the path of violent seizure of power."
Opposition leaders condemned the violence and demanded a new election. Opposition party sources said supporters were planning to convene on the capital for more protests today.
"I can tell you tomorrow 10 buses with protesters will move to Chisinau from my district alone," one opposition activist told Reuters by telephone from a rural district.
Most of the protesters were students who see no future if Communists keep their hold on the ex-Soviet state of 4 million people. Official results put the Communists in front with close to 50 percent of the vote.
Late in the evening, about 600 people were still massed outside Parliament. They demanded Voronin's resignation.
A former interior minister, Voronin has overseen stability and growth since 2001, but has been unable to resolve an 18-year-old separatist rebellion in the Russian-speaking region Transdniestria, where Russia has had troops since Soviet times.
Kremlin Chief Dmitry Medvedev, who had congratulated Voronin on his party's election win, called for a speedy and calm resolution of the situation.
The European Union and the United States urged an end to the violence. "What's important here is that . . . people desist from any type of violent activity. That doesn't help anything," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington.
Moldova, wedged between Ukraine and Romania on the edge of the European Union, is in what Russia sees as its sphere of influence. Moldova said it was recalling its ambassador to Romania for consultations on the situation.
Wood said Washington's view of the poll was "generally positive," but added that the State Department had not yet completed its assessment of the election's fairness. 