Of the series of IPN interviews with all the candidates for mayor general of Chisinau municipality: Alexandra Can, candidate of the National Liberal Party.
– What made you run for the mayoralty of Chisinau municipality?
I’m a person with a rich experience, but I’m increasingly dissatisfied with the lies disseminated during these years to cover the intentions and actions of endlessly robbing society. As I brought things in order everywhere I worked and obtained development, I’m the only candidate who can serve as a liaison between the category of young people who disappointed and another category of young people who are to come and which we do not want to be similar to the one that came after 2009. I’m not corrupt and never stole. I know how to root out corruption from the City Hall and helped a lot of people. I have always been consistent and principled and hope that the people will want a clean, honest and resolute mayor, not petards that burn for a second and disappoint the people and then disappear ... ashamed. We have a complex plan and can bring investments, as I did in all the other posts I held, including of successful entrepreneur.
As the vice president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), I reiterate three main principles of our political program that is present in the electoral platforms for the local elections in which we always run:
• modernization of localities by using European funds obtained with the assistance of Romania;
• real decentralization of the local public administration, application of the European principle of local self-government;
• democratization of the act of governance at the level of community by ensuring transparency, free competition, competitiveness, by involving the citizens in decision-making and through the control of civil society.
Only such transformations can ensure the de-sovietization, de-communization and de-KGBization of society as this hasn’t occurred since 1991 at the central and local levels. For the purpose, we need to prevent the false Socialist-Communists from coming to power, to have the usurpers of the state power that led to the oligarchization of society held accountable and to have the concept-program of concomitant Romanian and European integration implemented.
– Why do you think you should be voted in the May 20 elections?
– I want to convince the people that confidence can be rebuilt. If they look at my biography, they will see that my experience is accompanied by honesty. I can tell you who I am: I was born in Sireti, Straseni and graduated from the Faculty of Economy of the State University of Moldova. I later finished refresher courses in management, economy, psychology at the Institute of the World Bank and other institutions. I’m an expert in advocacy. I had internships in France. I developed gradually – from seamstress, quality control, accounting and trade union leader up to director general. I worked in the local public administration (head of home distribution monitoring division), as city councilor, adviser on economic reforms, chief accountant at the first Ministry of Economy. I know the mechanism of monitoring and managing finances. I was adviser to the minister of economy and to the first deputy prime minister, head of financial and fiscal-banking division at the Ministry of Economy, minister of industry and trade in the Ion Sturza Government. I also worked as a volunteer, as chairman of the Light Industry Employers Association APIUS, head of the Censors Commission of the Chamber of Trade and Industry and Past President Rotary International Chisinau. I speak four foreign languages. I was awarded medals and orders of both of the Romanian states, including: Diploma of Excellence in Economy, Labor Glory Order, National Order of Romania “Faithful Service”, Commander Level.
At political level, I, Alexandru Can, took part in the political process, struggling as part of the reformist, liberal, pro-European and pro-Romanian camp. As a member of the PNL, I took part in election campaigns. In 2009, I was nominated by the team of the MAE-PNL for Prime Minister. As an economist and manager, I proved that I can transform an industrial enterprise from a bankrupt one into a successful one. I’m not blackmailable and I’m upright, non-corrupt and incorruptible. I’m open to dialogue, negotiations and identification of optimal solutions in difficult situations. I always offered my expertise of good manager to young people who came intempestively to posts that were too complex for them. I promoted the women and young people and always supported the representatives of the third age.
I can be a liaison of society, a representative of different ethnic groups that have confidence in me. As a candidate for mayor general of Chisinau, I can be a chain between young people who managed the city with difficulty and the young people who will come at the second stage of their manifestation, as a new political class. I have diplomatic, leadership skills and have intense cooperation relations on the professional associative line. I’m supported by MEPs and have many relations with professionals and managers from the first Romanian state.
– Which are the most pressing three problems in Chisinau and how quickly can they be solved?
– Our program defines nine priorities, namely:
Priority No.1: Principled urban development policies
Priority No. 2: Updating of the socioeconomic development plan of the municipality.
Priority No. 3. Extension of the position of developer on the investment market
Priority No. 4: A new approach to urban transport and communications
Priority No. 5: Environment
Priority No. 6: Modernization of the suburban habitat
Priority No.7: Management and decision-making policy at the City Hall
Priority No.8 : Social policies
Priority No.9: Attraction of investments (backbone of economy) by a Marshall Plan and conversion of remittances!
For Priority No. 4: A new approach to urban transport and communications, we have new projects to ease traffic in the transit center and to gradually limit the access of road transport to the historical part of the city. The main modernization/development (Master-Plan) directions in the field are:
- a General Urban Transport Master Plan.
- urban and suburban public transport by an integrated system;
- rapid bus service, 25-45 km/hour;
- road infrastructure with German technology for ECO parking lots in the form of green lawns; multistory mechanized parking garages, etc;
- cycling tracks, ramps for wheelchairs and baby carriages;
- extension of the network of trolleybuses with termini near the road belt;
- authorizations for building with the construction of parking places;
- laying out of intersections, with the perspective of having two stories.
For Priority No. 5: Environment, we have:
- management of waste by integrated systems;
- implementation of the “polluter pays” principle to compensate for the damage caused to the environment and people’s health;
- last-generation plants ( pollution-free thermal solid waste processing technology) and a mobile plant for collecting biogas in Tantareni so as to generate heat and power, and an industrial greenhouse;
- cleaning of lakes in recreational areas using new technology. Rehabilitation and cleaning of the Byk riverbed;
- a public-private partnership program: “FAS&CIP” (façade-roof-stair and yard-illumination-parking);
- pilot project to reorient developers from homebuilding to modernization of old apartment buildings;
- development/rehabilitation of quarter yards;
- promotion of the Sustainable Development concept (country project) based on a pilot, public-private project: Cluster “SinProiectInvest-EV”.
For Priority No. 6: Modernization of the suburban habitat:
- weekly consultations with mayors of affiliated communities on Program issues;
- implementation of five pilot sustainable development projects – modernization of suburban localities, a new BIO market for the municipality;
- organization of modern ecological agriculture in communes, on small and medium-sized areas, which is a chance for Moldova in the European context, as a gift from God;
- in lyceums – project “formation of young farmer”;
- agrotourism , an Eco Park;
- two agro-industrial centers with hubs in the localities affiliated to Chisinau;
- pilot biogas station with thermoelectric mini-plant with turbine (in the future in each community of the municipality) as in Gussing, Austria;
- development of the Green Energy (solar) segment based on the experience of Slovenia.
They spoke not enough or not at all about these views. But our team knows the effects of their promotion in other countries and considers these can improve the appearance of the municipality.
- What solutions do you suggest to these problems?
– Based on the mentioned priorities, we show in detail how the designed projects can be implemented. A more detailed variant is available on the website www.pnl.md and on my blog www.can.pnl.md.
– How will the pay parking spaces project end, in your opinion?
– In our plan for developing the municipality of Chisinau, as an electoral platform, we envision intense cooperation with specialists in the field, consulting of experts and more consultancy bodies in this regard. I think something like this could be done earlier too, if there weren’t hidden interests. These hampered the fundamental resolution of problems. Our party includes specialists, such as the former candidates for mayor Ludmila Bolboceanu, Mihai Severovan and Mircea Rusu and one of the coordinators of the Union Council Timotei Turcanu, also ex-candidate for mayor of Chisinau. These know the problems. Some of them contributed to the efforts to solve the problems as municipal councilors. As we have a team of honest, clean and non-discredited people, we could solve these problems as we said above and in the way defined in our program, without interference based on evil interests and influence peddling for enriching oneself.
– What solutions do you have for the waste disposal problem in the city?
– We think there is particular competition now, but in detail we can say that: a new industry for processing waste should be organized by creating a viable waste management system. The city daily produces 2,000 tonnes of waste that is nothing else but raw material that is precious for different industries. The advantage of correct management is that the investments for this sector can be easier attracted and can be used to create integrated waste management systems at regional level, in parallel with the closing of noncompliant waste storage places. Special national and European funds will be used to finance the collection, sorting, transportation, treatment and storing of household waste combined with measures to reduce the quantity of waste, according to the EU principles and practices in the field. We will respect the “polluter pays” principle that allows for the substitution of the damage done to the environment. A Master Plan of the integrated solid waste management system will be worked out and implemented all over the municipality of Chisinau. We will attract funds to build a last generation plant (based on thermal solid waste processing technology). Did you know that some of the Nordic states import waste to make different materials that emit energy and are used for other areas of industry?
– What is the stake of the upcoming elections?
– The people say it is definite that the PNL will win. This time we try again to explain to the people that they were wrong when they believed those who say so many nice lies and later disappoint them. As a common candidate could not be identified, the one chosen by the people will win. We will see if this will disappoint or not, but if those who are not oriented to the East didn’t want to identify a common team, the blame is borne by those who didn’t want to discuss. We, the PNL, proposed and we hope they will realize their mistakes after the elections, before the parliamentary elections, where the stake is even bigger for the future of this territory and this population.
– Is the City Hall a trampoline for obtaining higher posts? Do you see yourself in big politics?
– If persons like me had sat in Parliament at least after 2009, plus other colleagues from the PNL, the situation would have been different. But the people voted those “with chances” that depend on dirty money, gave “useful votes” and got useless votes without chances. They can make mistakes further, but we offer them something else. I’ve been in big politics since the second Romanian state through my role of honest business entity, good taxpayer and person who always helped and opened up the way to business for many people.
– Will you run in the local elections of 2019 too?
– In the PNL, the decisions are taken in concert. We will live and will decide…
Alexandra Can will be under No. 7 on the ballot.
Earlier, IPN published interviews with Silvia Radu, independent candidate, Maxim Braila, candidate of the People’s Party, Ion Ceban, candidate of the Party of Socialists, Alexandr Roșco, candidate of the Political Party “Our Home – Moldova”, and Constantin Codreanu, candidate of the National Unity Party.
