Parliamentary elections will take place in Moldova on November 30. Some of the political parties have already started, officially or not, electoral actions, while some haven't. IPN Agency set out to sketch the “portraits” of political parties as recorded by society's perception, before the official start of the electoral campaign. We consider this to be a useful exercise for Moldovan voters, who will gain additional and concentrated information that they may find useful on the day of elections, and also for the parties themselves, who will get some hints on how to improve their image. This portrait might also help to better understand what one or another Moldovan party wants to be and what it really is. To this goal, many experts have been asked to comment on the parties' chance to make it into the next Parliament, the way they fulfilled their previous electoral promises, the possible coalitions, topics, tactics and strategies they might employ to get the voters' attention. Political parties are presented in order of the number of seats they hold in the current Legislative and of the results obtained during the previous parliamentary elections in 2010.
---
Businessman Renato Usatyi aims to become a politician. He tried to register the Our Party, but the Ministry of Justice rejected his application. Afterward, he was elected as chairman of the Republican People’s Party that was headed by Nicolae Andronic by that moment, but the Ministry of Justice argued the procedure was violated. Then Renato Usatyi founded a new party – the Party of Renato Usatyi” (PaRUs) - and submitted again the documents to the Ministry of Justice. Experts consider this party will not poll sufficient votes to pass the election threshold and suspect it is a project from outside created with the aim of causing dissatisfaction in society.
Politologist and electoral strategist Olga Nicolenco said it is hard to speak about the image of something that is now inexistent. “Let’s see at least a healthy statement made by this future party. We could then discuss its pluses and minuses. I haven’t heard promises yet, only rumors. I haven’t heard a doctrine, a political idea that this political fetus would share. The future party will promote tavern or bodega chanson-like policies,” she stated.
Expert Lina Grau said she does not understand what Renato Usatyi wants. “I, as observer of the public life, do not understand his goal. His goal is to probably stir things up in Moldova and to create dissatisfaction and protest. It seems a strange project of a rich man who needs to dissipate some money. It’s probably fueled from outside to generate dissatisfaction in society,” she said. The expert considers that as an independent candidate, Renato Usatyi also does not have many chances of entering Parliament.
Expert in politology Denis Cenusa said the image of the party of Renato Usatyi is ambiguous. Judging by the harsh rhetoric of Renato Usatyi, he could form an alliance with Igor Dodon as they have the same geopolitical message, but a bloc will most probably not be created. In the election campaign, Renato Usatyi will resort to such tactics as making a victim of oneself because his party was not registered. He will focus on online activity. He is now practically the most active person who wants to enter politics.
Speaking about the election of Renato Usatyi as chairman of the Republican People’s Party, vice director of the Institute of Legal and Political Research of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Victor Juc said this businessman bought a party without results in the previous elections. “Renato Usatyi has money and becomes involved in charity, but I don’t think that he can count on many votes. About 20,000 votes will be needed for a seat of MP. I think he could poll at most 2% after making a victim of himself and conducting campaigns in the mass media,” said the expert, adding that if Usatyi manages to attract 5% of the votes, those who recently made public a poll saying this party will enter Parliament will be believed. If not, the authors of the poll will discredit themselves. Renato Usatyi wants to collect votes of protest and to enter the Parliament‘s opposition, without contributing to country management.
---
As part of this campaign, IPN has already published a review of the experts' opinions on the Communists' Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Liberal Reformists Party, the Renaissance Party, the Socialists' Party, the Democratic Action Party, the National Liberal Party, the Antimafia People's Movement , the People's Party, the Green Ecologist Party, the Party of Regions of Moldova, the Party “Democratia Acasa” (Democracy at Home)., the People’s Force Party, and the Communist Reformist Party of Moldova.
Mariana Galben, IPN
