Representatives of civil society say they are not heard by the politicians who put the personal interests above all. At the same time, civil society is considered young, which cannot influence the national political class. Related opinions were stated in the public debate “Culture of political crisis: views and roles of civil society organizations in the process of overcoming and communication with society”, staged by IPN News Agency.
The debate involved representatives of NGOs working in a number of areas. The permanent expert to the debates Igor Botan, director of the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, said the civil society representatives attending can invite other organizations to join them in disseminating the message that they no longer tolerate the political crisis created by dismissing the Government.
”These organizations can constitute a major force in Moldova. This message can reach the mass media and the people, the ambassadors and the foreign partners. The role of civil society is important. The leaders of the ruling alliance profane Moldova’s strategic goal – the European integration. This goal cannot be promoted as until now,” said the expert.
Eduard Mihalas, chairman of the National Youth Council, believes that the parties in Moldova do not know what government is. He said that the politicians, when they come to power, consider that they must share out all the posts.
”The pressure exerted by the people is weak or there is no such pressure. The people believe that this crisis is the responsibility of the politicians. Not even the party members become involved. The youth organizations are engaged only in election campaigns. The opposition does not give an example. They want to return to power and use the same instruments. The politicians cannot rule,” said Eduard Mihalas.
Ion Dron, head of the Center of Initiatives and Public Authorities Monitoring, said that besides the rupture existing within the ruling alliance, there is a wide gap between the politicians and civil society. “They pursued their own goals that didn’t coincide with our interests in the end. We hoped that this young political class, compared with the Communist one, will propose something new. But their mentality does not differ much from the Communist one. They also want to control everything. We are not heard because they think that we do not realize what politics is,” stated the jurist.
Iuliana Cantaragiu, expert of the public association “National Environment Center” and head of the National NGO Council, said that a crisis appears when the sides cannot come to terms. “The current crisis arose because the three ruling parties do not have a common goal. The National NGO Council called on the parties to focus on the common objective – the European integration,” she stressed, adding that Moldovan civil society is only developing.
The debate ”Culture of political crisis: views and roles of civil society organizations in the process of overcoming and communication with society” is the 15th of the series of public debates held by IPN News Agency within the project “Development of political culture by public debates”. The project is supported by Hanns Seidel Foundation.
