The candidate of the electoral bloc ACUM in single-member constituency No. 50 considers the Republic of Moldova is a captured state and the bloc’s candidate therefore aim to restore the rule of law in the country, this being a key commitment. On the other hand, the representative of the National Liberal Party considers the Romanian integration, concomitantly with the Euro-Atlantic integration, will bring Moldova an advance of ten years in socioeconomic development. The Democratic Party’s candidate in constituency No. 50 said the PDM has never forgotten about the persons from the diaspora and in the future will lay emphasis on negotiations on the ensuring of the legal right to work, while independent candidate Oleg Brega said the rule of law, separation of powers in the state and functioning of laws in the Republic of Moldova are now of major importance. The statements were made in the public debate “Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Western Diaspora because...”, which was the 106th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates” staged by IPN Agency.
Olga Coptu, a candidate of the Democratic Party, said that regardless of the government’s color, this should take into account the large number of members of the Moldovan diaspora. Her program centers on the social protection of the Moldovans abroad. The Republic of Moldova during the past few years signed more than 15 social protection agreements with states where Moldova has migrants and similar agreements are being negotiated with Italy, Germany and other countries. It is important to continue these efforts. “We should think how to negotiate the right to work for these people who are abroad. MPs of these do not work legally there. Our citizens have an exemplary behavior abroad. They have a reputation there and are recognized as hardworking and honest people by the host country, and the efforts of our country should be aimed at ensuring their right to work, to medical and social assistance and protection,” stated Olga Coptu.
Asked what the party she represents does to attract Moldovans who left the country home, Olga Coptu said a number of governmental programs centering on the reintegration of the diaspora into the economic sector are now implemented in Moldova. “Each time, we lobbied for exempting from taxes for minimum three years those who return home and start a business, but every time the reason was that the IMF does not allow discriminating against the citizens. There was approved the program “DAR 1+3” and in 2019 there will be allocated 5 million lei for the local public authorities in partnership with the diaspora and foreign donors so as to implement projects at home,” stated the candidate.
Vitalia Pavlichenko, the representative of Gheorghe Furdui, who runs on behalf of the National Liberal Party, said the PNL is the party that pleaded for ensuring economic freedom. Moldova should leave the CIS and should not depend on the past that keeps it stagnant. Moldova should join NATO and a lustration law should be adopted as we are led by persons who are blackmailable and who have a skeleton in the closet, who cooperated with the KGB.
The politician noted Moldova should fully undertake the Euro-compliant legislation from Romania and the Romanian integration should take place simultaneously with the Euro-Atlantic one. The governments of Moldova and Romania should have common meetings and the two countries should have joint customs posts. Moldova should connect its energy and gas systems to Romania’s, should take over the Romanian fiscal and financial concept and adopt the Romanian national currency. “If we raise to the standards of Romania, we would go through the difficult development stages of the Republic of Moldova and would gain an advance of ten years in the socioeconomic development,” stated Vitalia Pavlichenko. She added the National Liberal Party and its candidate will formulate policies and will transmit a signal to the diaspora to show that they state wants sincere, not manipulative cooperation, as until now.
Natalia Gavrilița, the representative of Maia Sandu who runs on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM Platform DA and PAS, said Moldova is a captured state and should first of all be freed from captivity. Each citizen of this country knows that the mayors are pressurized, the people have criminal cases started against them and are blackmailed. They come to work with the power because they do not have an alternative. The main objective of the bloc ACUM is to replace the political class and stop the wrongdoings and the subduing of the state institutions to the interests of one person or a group of persons and to restore the rule of law in Moldova.
According to Natalia Gavrilița, one of the main commitments of the bloc ACUM is to reform justice and the fight against corruption. “During the first 100 days of government, we aim to adopt six laws so as to abrogate such laws as that on citizenship by investment and to start the assessment of judges, including by bringing foreign expertise and we will adopt a law on the creation of a National Anticorruption Department like Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate. In the short term, the reformation of justice, the fight against corruption and the ensuring of the rule of law are the most important things for Moldova to return to a normal path. We cannot live in fear and should become free people,” stated the candidate.
Independent candidate Oleg Brega said of the candidates attending the debate, he is the only one who does not represent a party. He is independent and will not be dependent on the whims of the parliamentary group or party leader. He will represent in Parliament his conscience and those who will vote him. “I could remain outside government. I could be in the opposition in Parliament too as I do not represent a party that can gain a majority of seats. But I could have a golden vote and be invited to negotiations to form the Government. I will then impose conditions for those negotiations to be public, transparent and correct.”.
Oleg Brega noted it is now key to ensure the rule of law and to separate the powers in the state. He will suggest imposing an anti-monopole ceiling by law so that no party has a simple majority and no one could amend the Constitution without other parties as there is the risk of totalitarianism. He called on the Moldovans from Romania to take part in the elections.
On February 14, IPN staged a debate with candidates or representatives of candidates running in single-member constituency No. 49. This involved Vladimir Bolea, the representative of Dorin Frăsîneanu, who runs on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM Platform PAS and DA, independent candidate Dumitru Pogorea, Nicolae Pascaru, who represented the Party of Socialists’ candidate Gheorghii Para, and Valery Klimenko, who runs on behalf of the Shor Party.
The debate scheduled for February 19 will feature candidates registered in constituency No. 51 the U.S. and Canada. This starts at 2pm.
Earlier, IPN Agency held electoral debates with the participation of representatives of election contestants running in the national constituency.
The series of debates ”Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Western diaspora because...”, forms part of the series of public debates held by IPN News Agency as part of the project “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
