President Nicolae Timofti nominated the secretary general of the President’s Apparatus Ion Paduraru as a candidate for Prime Minister.  This was announced late on January 14 at the residence in Condrita.

"When I selected the candidacy of Ion Paduraru I considered the fact that the coalition does not have the necessary number of votes.  I have the constitutional right to nominate a candidate by my choice. I've known him a long time.  He has to work a lot. Everything depends on MPs. If they do not accept this candidacy, there are premises to call early elections, but I do not want this", said Nicolae Timofti.

"I understand how complicated is the period and how complicated it will be to reach an agreement with factions in the Parliament. I understand that some of them will not attend the discussions. I will try to communicate correctly with MPs and convince them that this is a good solution. We understand that early elections is not a solution for the country", said the PM-designate.  Ion Paduraru is authorized to compile the action programme and the list of the cabinet and present them to parliament for consideration in a 15-day period.

Marian Lupu, chairman of the Democratic Party said for Publika TV that he and another candidate (according to Deschide.md it is about Pavel Filip, acting Minister of Information Technology and Communication) were on their way to Condrita, when he was announced that the president signed the decree to designate Ion Paduraru for the seat of premiership.  “  It is a surprising decision that we do not understand. Not long ago, we had discussions with members of the President’s staff and were invited to the President’s Residence to discuss another candidate. At half way, we were informed that the situation changed and a decree was already signed”, said Marian Lupu for Publika TV. The Democrat chairman doubted Ion Paduraru’s integrity and said that the Secretary General of the President's Apparatus had never participated in formal negotiation procedures.

Ion Paduraru  was born in the Tiplesti village, central Singerei district, on 18 January 1961. In 1998-99, Ion Paduraru held the position of justice minister in the cabinets Ciubuc 2 and Ion Sturza. Earlier, he worked as prosecutor, judge, head of the legal department at the State Chancellery. In 1996-2012, he acted, intermittently, as lawyer and president of the Chisinau Bar Association. Starting from April 2012, Ion Paduraru has been working as Secretary General of the President's Apparatus. He is married and has two children.