The campaign for the local elections of 2011 is more professional than the previous ones as regards the utilization of electoral technologies, said politologist Aurelia Peru. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Aurelia Peru said the electoral technologies are widely used, especially in the municipalities and in Chisinau. “It is simpler in the elections in rural areas as the people know the candidates better. There is a different category of voters in the municipalities and the number of election runners there is much higher. In the current elections, we have a rich electoral market, where the contenders are well prepared and use a wide variety of electoral technologies,” said Aurelia Peru. [The show – a key element of the current campaign] Most of the runners in the local elections form part of a young and prepared generation and this is a typical feature of the current campaign. “This campaign is a period of adolescence for the electoral contenders. Thus, they are interested in making shows. This is characteristic both of the powerful runners and less powerful ones,” said the politologist. The fact that the show is a political PR tactic is proven also by the public debates initiated by the contenders. Aurelia Peru said that the debates are PR actions related to political symbolism. They are regarded as good examples of electoral techniques in choosing the place for debates – the National Stadium, the Wastewater Treatment Station, or the waste dump in Tantareni. Only two parties lay emphasis on personalization – the Communist Party (PCRM) and the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM). The politologist said that both Valentina Buliga and Igor Dodon are detached from the parties they represent and are presented as engines of the party. The PCRM's candidate is the only runner who prepared an electoral strategy beforehand. The others give the impression that their steps depend on the circumstances. [Pastries with and without electoral consistency] Aurelia Peru said that Igor Dodon shows the best consistency in his strategy. Initially, there were placed anonymous election porters. The author appeared afterward. The candidate does not include voters' wishes in the program. He proposed a set of solutions before the campaign and then suggested solutions to them in the first part of the campaign. Aurelia Peru also said that Igor Dodon uses social PR by implementing the social project “I Love Moldova”, in which he focuses both on social and political factors. The strategy of the PDM candidate not very clear. “We do not see PR actions inspired by the program. The fact that Valentina Buliga gives news conferences and responds to the black PR technologies employed by other runners is banal. She allows the men to fight like roosters between them, but she should put emphasis more on firmness rather than on feminism,” considers Aurelia Peru. She said there is great discrepancy between the text and image in the PDM's election posters. “In the poster we see Valentina Buliga as a nice woman looking like a movie star, who meditates. But the message “It's time to bring things in the capital city in order” is harsh, severe, and mannish,” said the politologist. As to the Liberal Party's candidate for mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, Aurelia Peru said that he builds a positive image on the results that he achieved while serving as a mayor. Dorin Chirtoaca resorted to the strategy of austerity in this campaign as an electoral tactic. Aurelia Peru referred here to the Liberal Party's decision not to use election posters. [Black PR for outsiders] Aurelia Peru said that the black PR is usually used by small parties as electoral tactic to become noticed in the election campaign and to sensitize the public opinion. “As a rule, the black PR is employed by outsiders that do not have chances of winning. By harshly criticizing the power, they try to sensitize the public opinion. The Law and Justice Party is a relevant example. It spreads information that corruption flourishes at the City Hall and that the Grozavu clan is behind many illegal schemes. The power can also use the black PR, but it is costly PR that can be like the PCRM's campaign against Urecheanu conducted in 2003. The authorities will not resort to making such statements as Grozavu bought a luxury car of €150,000, said Aurelia Peru. The appearance of the fake newspapers “Ziarul de Chisinau” and “Timpul de Chisinau” can be regarded as a black PR tactic, but it is a banal one, according to Aurelia Peru. “They spoke a lot about this papers, but not many people saw them. However, the information about them disseminated by the mass media influenced significantly the public opinion,” said the politologist. Aurelia Peru stated that the small parties also use such PR tactics as the Stop&Go strategy, when they cannot provoke events, but comment on the things done by important political players. [Electoral technology with effects on the masses] Aurelia Peru said that in the electoral race in Chisinau, the PDM and PCRM lay stress on the personalization of the political players, while the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) promote the idea that it is the party that decides and the party is stronger than the leader. This applies mainly to the PLDM, which does not have a candidate for mayor of Chisinau. The candidates for seats on the Municipal Council bank on the party and the party's locomotive Vlad Filat. Among correct PR tactics, Aurelia Peru mentioned the steps to protect the cultural patrimony taken by Victor Bodiu, who tops the PLDM's list of candidates for councilors, and the idea of providing free car wash services, put forward by the PSD's candidate for mayoralty Sergiu Coropceanu. Dorin Chirtoaca also uses correct PR actions. “Dorin Chirtoaca behaves now more maturely and calmly than in 2007. It is normal for a candidate running for a second tenure to put emphasis on what he did during the first term in office. He does not resort to black PR,” said Aurelia Peru. “In general, the vote in Chisinau is symbolic. The people do not read the electoral programs. They vote either the right or the left. The political PR actions are electoral technologies with great effects on the masses. The political PR should be also inspired by the offers for the voters. The candidates should play volleyball and football on abandoned stadiums less and focus on what they propose in their platforms,” said the politologist. [Svetlana Cojocaru, Info-Prim Neo]