The Republic of Moldova needs an army, but the current one is in a deplorable state and needs serious reformation. “The problem is that the people are promoted not based on merits, but on favoritism and therefore a lot of people left the army. The National Army must be rehabilitated so that we have a force by which we could intervene in calamities and by which we could oppose an eventual armed attack from outside”, candidate for President Maia Sandu stated in the public debate “What kind of President is society looking for? What kind of society does the President need?”

Maia Sandu said the Romanian language was and will remain the official language and this will be enshrined in the Constitution. As to the prerogatives and actions of the President at foreign level, she noted that a Head of State trusted by the foreign development partners can get assistance in investigating the theft of the US$1 billion, in reforming the prosecution service and in convicting those who committed the theft.

As a President who names the diplomats, which is now an area where there is no democracy, according to the candidate, Maia Sandu will appoint to posts persons based on merits, who are able to promote the country’s image abroad. The relations with the Russian Federation, as those with the other governments and partners, must be based on mutual respect because Moldova’s citizens are as important as those of Russia and their rights must be respected. Economic diplomacy should be used in the Moldovan-Russian relations so as to benefit at economic level from this cooperation.

The October 18 electoral public debate is the 64th installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture by public debates” that are organized by IPN with the assistance of the German foundation “Hanns Seidel”.