In the campaign prior to the presidential elections, the electoral slogan of the PAS candidate, was called on the citizens to support the good people, eminently discredited, discriminated and clearly divided the political sphere, said Doru Petruți, director general of the Sociological Research Company [imas]. “As an ideology and as a political strategy behind, particular effects were probably obtained. On the other hand, if we discuss the real and more consistent effects, this was probably one of the most immoral electoral slogans used in the Republic of Moldova and it comes from the voters and from a politician from whom we didn’t expect such messages to come as there is a particular set of values promoted by this candidate,” Doru Petruți argued in IPN’s public debate And in the Morning They Woke Up” (by Vasiliy Shukshin). Politological, psychological and sociological aspects of the state of society after the presidential elections”.
Doru Petruți also criticized the call to violence of independent candidate Igor Dodon, noting this came in the wake of an expectation of a particular part of voters. “Why do these voters have such an expectation? Because those voters are permanently attacked, labeled by the other political camp. We have different expectations. We expect particular conduct from the voters of the right and another conduct from the voters of the left. Maybe the expectations are not so big. There are all kinds of stereotypes placed on the two large camps of voters,” he stated.
The director of the Sociological Research Company said those who project the election campaigns of candidates know very well the mechanisms that can trigger particular energy or cannot. Those who are in power during the election campaign can only confirm the rating, while those who come from the opposition can improve the rating. “For example, Renato Usatyi trebled his electoral rating. Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu in the first round of elections maintained their electoral pools and attracted some of the voters of other parties that didn’t have candidates. The runoff could not be the same and particular effort should have been made. We speak about a circulation that exists between the politician and the opinion currents generated by each decision, each position,” he stated, noting that what should be avoided in this case is the very serious phenomena that can be remedied with difficulty, such as the discrediting and annihilation of confidence in institutions.
Doru Petruți considers the trust is the essential element that ensures the victory of a candidate and particular social capital. “Our political class forgot a simple rule: credibility is built on assertions, not on negations. I think it is the first race of such a level, after last year’s local elections. It is for the first time that the main two candidates before the runoff, during the campaign, effectively didn’t move up in polls. The effect of the campaign on the scores of Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu was zero,” he stated, noting the disappointment among the voters of the left and those of the right was another witnessed worrying phenomenon.
According to Doru Petruți, the voters are close to exhaustion even if there was a wave of enthusiasm and optimism. There is a fully disproportional discrepancy between the level of expectations, in particular for the first period, which points to the voters’ big wish to reinvest hope together with these elections, and the challenges that will be faced by Maia Sandu.
The debate “And in the Morning They Woke Up” (by Vasiliy Shukshin). Politological, psychological and sociological aspects of the state of society after the presidential elections” as the 11th installment of the electoral series “We and the President: who elects who, who represents who” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
