The Bashkan of Gagauzia Irina Vlah does not rule out the possibility of competing for office of President of the Republic of Moldova. The governor said that she hasn’t yet taken a decision to this effect, but the legislation of the Republic of Moldova does not ban her from contending for the presidency. She noted she has collegial relations with incumbent President Maia Sandu and also with Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița, who is the ninth Premier with whom she works in the Cabinet, IPN reports.
Irina Vlah refused to speak about her plans after the expiration of her term as Bashkan, but didn’t deny the possibility of running in the presidential elections of 2024. She said she and current Premier Natalia Gavrilița work well as a team, even if she was critical of the government when the 2022 state budget law was adopted.
“I’m a citizen of the Republic of Moldova and have such a right (to run). I will yet see. Natalia Gavrilița is the ninth Premier with whom I work and every time I’m hopeful that things can be done well. The attitude to the regions of the Republic of Moldova should be the same when we speak about the country’s funds, kindergartens, hospitals, schools. For next year, a rise in doctors’ salaries wasn’t planned, while for teachers there will be applied a rise of 5-6%. This is not much. Here our opinions are different. I think that when we have such a large shortage of doctors and teachers, we should think how to pay this staff in the system and how to attract new specialists,” Irina Vlah stated in the talk show “The Fourth Estate” on N4 channel.
The official refused to assess the work done by President Maia Sandu during a year in office. She noted she and Sandu during a year had only one official meeting.
“It was the first official meeting with President Maia Sandu. During the meeting, we discussed a number of issues and analyzed the country’s problems, the projects we have implemented in Gagauzia. It didn’t receive proposals to have other meetings, but if we want to develop our country, we should meet more often. I cannot give a grade to President Maia Sandu. Grades should be given by the voters who elected her,” stated Irina Vlah.
She said she invited Maia Sandu to take part in the festivity held to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the constitution of the autonomous unit, but the President didn’t come. Irina Vlah has held office of Bashkan of Gagauzia since 2015. In 2019, she was elected for the second term.
