The Gavrilița Government wouldn’t have resigned if polls hadn’t shown such a low popular approval rating for this Government, especially for the Premier, political commentator Nicolae Negru stated in a public debate hosted by IPN. According to him, the loss of trust and the future local, presidential and parliamentary elections made the leaders of the Party of Action and Solidarity make such a political move.
The commentator noted the absence of a communication strategy was one of the factors that contributed to Premier Natalia Gavrilița’s anti-rating.
“I always warned the authorities about the faults in communication. The Government of Natalia Gavrilița lost the information war. It witnessed a unique situation as not only political parties worked against her, to discredit the executive, but also the Russian intelligence services and we have particular disclosures about this. These things overlapped each other and the Government didn’t enjoy a favorable image,” said Nicolae Negru.
He considers the replacement of the Cabinet has an important goal – to distance the citizens’ criticism and negative impressions from the government.
“When Natalia Gavrilița said that support was needed inside the country, she referred also to the trust and sympathy of the citizens. I think the government wanted to turn the page, to throw away the accumulated negative baggage, to start with a new interface called Dorin Recean. This is normal and they act like this in liberal democracies – you replace the team in order to ensure greater hope. There are also particular questions – why the Government of Natalia Gavrilița could have been unable to ensure the country’s security? Inflation started to decrease, the stagnating projects started to be implemented. This autumn’s elections will be a rehearsal for the government,” stated Nicolae Negru.
As to the expectations of the new Cabinet, Nicole Negru said he considers that re-launching the economy is the biggest expectation. If this is done, this will be a signal. It will also depend on what Russia does and on the development of things in Ukraine. If the provocations continue, it will be hard to fulfill this mission. Moldova lags behind many countries of the Western Balkans.
Nicolae Negru considers the new Cabinet should not include members of the Gavrilița Government. Keeping some of the members of the previous Cabinet will be a mistake as the people expect the new Government will ensure better communication and more rigorous selection of ministers. Persons who do not form part of the PAS, who asserted themselves in time should form part of the new Cabinet. There are professionals in particular parties and it would be good to attract these. The best should be involved as the country is confronted with challenges.
The commentator noted there are yet no guarantees that the invited persons will accept the posts of ministers. “Some could reject the proposal because they hope to obtain more advantages in the local elections or there could be particular incompatibility with President Maia Sandu,” he said.
The public debate entitled “Replacement of the Government: reasons and expectations?” was the 273rd installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
