Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin called yesterday for a recount of an election, saying it would restore trust and calm after violent demonstrations by protesters alleging the vote was rigged.
Opposition parties said the President's offer was meaningless and intended to distract attention from mass fraud on voters' lists. The parties have demanded a new election in the country of four million wedged between Ukraine and Romania.
President Voronin, Europe's only ruling communist, asked the Constitutional Court to allow a recount of the April 5 vote, in which the communists finished far in front with nearly 50 per cent of the vote.
The court, dominated by his supporters, is likely to agree.
"I, as chairman of the party which gained undoubted victory in the fair and democratic contest, approach the Constitutional Court for a clear decision on the need for a full recount of the votes cast in the parliamentary election," Mr Voronin said.
"A full recount... would be an important argument for the restoration of political stability, peace and mutual confidence in the Moldovan Republic," he said in the request, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
The President's office later said Mr Voronin had met US Ambassador Asif Chaudhry and promised to take steps to create dialogue between the authorities and the opposition.
In Washington, a US State Department spokesman told reporters the United States welcomed the call for a recount. He said Mr Chaudhry also met opposition leaders and that on Thursday the opposition was given four days to review voter rolls.
Thousands of demonstrators looted and set fire to the Parliament and the president's offices on Tuesday in the worst violence to sweep Moldova, Europe's poorest country, in decades.
The President, speaking to reporters yesterday, again blamed opposition parties for the violence.
Mr Voronin has accused European Union member Romania of trying to stage a coup as part of plans to annex Moldova, with which it shares ethnic and language ties. He expelled its ambassador and denied entry to Romanian journalists.
The Central Election Commission this week confirmed results showing Mr Voronin's party winning nearly half the vote - a ruling that implied there would be no recount as the opposition sought.
The results gave the Communists just short of 50 per cent of the vote and 60 seats in the 101-member assembly - one short of the number needed to ensure victory for the party's candidate when the assembly elects the President.