At what stage of its historical development does Moldova find itself on the eve of its 24th anniversary from economic, political and social points of view? Is the development process normal, fast, slow? What are the lessons we have learned and those we are yet to learn? What are the short-term and long-term prospects of Moldovan society? These are the questions IPN Press Agency is trying to answer through a series of articles titled “Moldova at 24 years of age: Who are we? Where are we going?”, by speaking to experts from different fields.
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Jouranlist Ion Terguta thinks that Moldova is still in its transition stage. “After 24 years, Moldova has failed to find a way to overcome its difficult political and economic situation. For example, ex-Soviet countries that managed to overcome or ameliorate their crises, are more democratic and this means Moldovan society wasn't ready for a sudden change to democracy. Unfortunately, this has caused a series of political and social problems”, said Terguta.
According to him, when proclaiming its independence, the country lacked the elites to create a national idea that would guide the people through this transition. Moldova is still fumbling, after 24 years, in search of a development path and of national idea that would mobilize its citizens. But society is still divided between East and West, 50%-50%.
Terguta thinks that the country's development process is normal, but has suffered many delays. Coming from a totalitarian regime, Moldova didn't know the rules of economic and social life that guide Western states. The mentality issue needs time to be solved. Unfortunately, says the journalist, we lacked a political class to lead society towards the achievement of certain goals, as it happened in the Baltic countries. They come from the same totalitarian regime, but managed to overcome these problems much faster.
Ion Terguta explained that society and the political class have an essential role in the development of the country: society must know how to choose and control the political class and the latter must be responsible. “Unfortunately, our political class is more like a front for the economic elites that entered politics to defend their interests. The political arena is dominated by oligarchs, Moldova is dominated by monopolies and the difference between the poor and the rich is growing”, said the journalist.
In his opinion, society doesn't know where it wants to go and the last two elections have proven that society doesn't even know how to demand retribution. Instead, it accepts some symbolic compensations on a personal level to the detriment of the country's serious problems, said the Terguta, referring to the theft in the banking system that remains unpunished despite a lot of talk.
“Our best bet, in my views, is to unite with Romania. Nobody has offered a better solution so far. But each state is the expression of society and when society has no solution for its serious problems, we cannot but wait until a national idea emerges. It may take another 24 years or 48, but history is rarely patient with small nations”, said Terguta.
The journalist thinks that the country's European prospects are now worsened and it needs to prove more convincingly that it wants to join the European community. Moldova has already wasted a huge trust credit and will have to do colossal efforts to persuade European leaders that it is able to change itself and generate a political class able to govern.
Mariana Galben, IPN
