From correspondents in Europe, 08:03 PM IST

Moldova's parliament Monday failed to elect a new president in a critical showdown vote, intensifying a political crisis in the former Soviet republic.

A total of 53 MPs in Moldova's 101-seat legislature voted in favour of candidate Marian Lupu, put forward by the country's pro-Europe ruling coalition.

But 48 MPs loyal to Moldova's Communist Party abstained from voting and left the parliament shortly before the poll. They left Lupu eight votes short of a 61-member majority necessary for a presidential candidate's election under Moldovan law.

The Communists could not support Lupu, as the ruling coalition is preparing 'anti-social policies,' said Communist MP Maria Postoiko. '(If Communists vote for Lupu), it would be a betrayal of the Moldovan working class,' Postoiko was quoted by the Infotag news agency as saying.

It was the second attempt by Moldova's ruling 'Alliance for European Integration,' a four-party group supporting economic and political reforms, to push Lupu's candidacy through parliament.

A previous effort, Nov 10, failed when all 48 Communists MPs abstained from voting.

The ruling coalition's failure Monday to persuade Communist MPs to cross the aisle and vote for a new president intensified Moldova's long-running constitutional crisis.

By constitutional statute, Moldova's parliament must dissolve itself and hold new elections if the legislature is unable to elect a president in two attempts.

But Moldova's constitution also forbids new parliamentary elections - now technically mandatory because of parliament's failure Monday to elect a president - any sooner than one calendar year after the last time parliament was dissolved.

Moldova's parliament was last dissolved in July, also because it was unable to elect a president. A new round of national parliamentary elections - Moldova's third since April 2009 - would likely be possible only in September or October 2010, Infotag reported, citing political observers.

Commenting after Monday's vote, Lupu seemed to imply the ruling coalition's intention to attempt a third effort to elect a president, saying 'we will get a President elected eventually, despite the Communist boycott'.

Mihai Gimpu, Moldova's prime minister, last week ordered a national commission to study constitutional amendments to resolve the crisis.

Constitutional changes suggested by the ruling coalition include shifting presidential elections from parliament to a nationwide vote.

The constitutional reforms would become effective after a national referendum requiring Moldovan voters to go to the polls yet again, Gimpu was quoted by Interfax as saying.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)