The Parliament’s decision enters into force on the date of its adoption.
“I assure all political actors that they will have a fair representation at the public radio and television, corresponding to their scale and position in society. I inform all citizens that the biased and partisan practices in Dealul Schinoasei [the location of the TRM offices] will cease, making room for professional standards recognized in the civilized world, so that this institution will regain its good name from the past,” Vlad Țurcanu wrote on his Facebook page.
Vlad Țurcanu is a journalist and communication specialist with over 20 years of work experience. Between 2012 and 2016 he was an adviser and spokesman for the Moldovan ex-president Nicolae Timofti. Previously, he was a journalist at Radio Moldova, Moldova 1, Radio Free Europe, member of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council. He is a graduate of the Journalism and Communication Sciences Department of the State University of Moldova.
In 2019, Vlad Țurcanu was appointed leader of the Liberal Reformist Party, renamed to Romanian Popular Party. That year, he ran for the position of general mayor of Chisinau municipality from that party and obtained 0.81% of the votes in the election. Subsequently, he was elected as the first vice-president of the National Unity Party led by the ex-MP Octavian Țîcu, but left it and announced he was retiring from politics.
Vlad Țurcanu was proposed to the Parliament to be appointed as the general director of TRM by the vote of six of the seven members of the Supervisory and Development Board (SDB) at the first meeting, which took place on November 29. According to SDB secretary Sergiu Stanciu, Vlad Ţurcanu’s candidacy was proposed by the SDB President Arcadie Gherasim. The latter used to be for a while the editor-in-chief of the governing Action and Solidarity Party’s newspaper “A Step for Moldova”.
The general director of TRM is appointed by the Parliament at the proposal of the SDB for a non-renewable seven-year term. The general director is appointed by Parliament decision, and if the proposed candidate is rejected, the SDB shall propose another candidate within 15 days from the day of rejection. The former members of the Supervisory and Development Board were dismissed in corpore on November 5, when the respective amendments to the Code of Audiovisual Media Services entered into force. MPs voted for the return of Teleradio-Moldova under parliamentary control on November 4.