Moldovan parliament appoints third PM in less than a year

CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldovan lawmakers appointed the country's third prime minister in less than a year on Wednesday, backing a man chosen by the president as a compromise candidate in the hopes of ending months of political deadlock.

The vote paves the way for Pavel Filip, a member of the main pro-European coalition and a former IT and communications minister in the last government, to become prime minister. Two other candidates were previously rejected.

The small ex-Soviet state, Europe's poorest country, has been without a proper government since a no-confidence vote toppled the previous administration in October, after the fraudulent disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.

"The people of Moldova don't need a government that says pleasant things, but a government that solves their problems," Filip said after the vote, as around 2,000 protesters stood outside parliament still demanding snap elections.

Moldova's ruling elite has been the target of mass protests over the banking fraud, which saw the equivalent of one-eighth of Moldova's gross domestic product disappear overseas. Filip has close ties to Vladimir Plahotniuc, one of Moldova's richest but most unpopular men, who was a target of the protests.

Filip's party originally wanted Plahotniuc as their candidate for prime minister, but President Nicolae Timofti refused to nominate him. Opposition lawmakers oppose Filip's appointment, arguing that Plahotniuc would be the real power behind the scenes.

The appointment follows the rise and fall of two prime ministers in the past year. Chiril Gaburici resigned last June in the wake of accusations he falsified his school diplomas, while his successor, Valeriu Strelet, was ousted by a no- confidence motion in October.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Richard Balmforth)