The appointment of the Filip Government was one of the most important events of 2016, considers political analyst Roman Mihaes. In a news conference at IPN, he said that chaos was thus avoided.

Among other important events, the analyst mentioned the restoration of the relations with international financial institutions and, as a result, the unlocking of external financing. “The agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which has many clauses, was negotiated with very big difficulties, but they managed to sign this accord on November 7, before the presidential runoff. This contributed to financial stabilization and salvation of the Moldovan state,” said Roman Mihaes.

The analyst also said that an unprecedented event was witnessed in 2016 – the conviction of ex-Premier Vlad Filat of passive corruption and influence paddling. “There were also arrested other important sharks of Moldova. A criminal case was started over the laundering of US$20 billion. Customs officers, police officers and judges were arrested. These are unprecedented acts for Moldova,” stated Roman Mihaes.

Another event noted by the analyst is the election of Igor Dodon as President, which is a victory of the Kremlin and the anti-European forces in Moldova that are harmful to democracy.

As to the year 2017, Roman Mihaes said this will be dominated by the struggle between the President and the pro-European parliamentary alliance. “It will be a struggle of attrition, with many statements and political confrontations,” stated the analyst. According to him, President Igor Dodon’s attempt to renounce the Association Agreement with the EU should be regarded as one to the detriment of the national interest of Moldova. “If they try to materialize this idea, hostilities could appear, including street ones,” he stated.

In the same news conference, Roman Mihaes denied the reports that the Central Election Commission member Vasile Gafton had falsified the file of Roman Mihaes for his candidacy for presidency, acted impartially when examining the files of the candidates and falsified the informative note about the results of the examination of subscription lists with signatures in favor of candidates. The analyst said the assertions that Vasile Gafton carried Vlad Filat’s bag to the university in Iasi and worked in the prosecution service being helped by Vlad Filat after he graduated from the university are also untrue and unsubstantiated.