Arcadie Barbarosie: Moldovans have grown more skeptical and pessimistic

The Moldovans have become grown more skeptical and pessimistic, thinks political analyst Arcadie Barbarosie, the director of the Public Policy Institute, commenting on the results of the latest CBS-AXA opinion poll, which showed a dramatic drop in the people's confidence in state institutions. “The main cause of this lack of confidence is that great hopes were attached to the government and these hopes have failed to translate into substance. Political promises haven't been fulfilled and this explains the drop in confidence”, the analyst told Info-Prim Neo. At the same time, says Arcadie Barbarosie, another factor to be taken in consideration is that Moldova, despite some hopes, was not able to avoid the global economic crisis and the citizens feel the pinch. Concerning the increase in the percentage of support for the Liberal Democratic Party, against a drop in the support for other parliamentary parties, the analyst thinks that the trend is due to the fact that the party's leader is also the head of the Government. “Vlad Filat has some good advisers. The Government has achieved good results in its foreign policy. In fact, its achievement are only seen in what concerns the rapprochement to the EU and in negotiations with the EU. However, it should not labor under this delusion: we are a success story in the Eastern Partnership only to the extent to which other members in this Partnership are not so successful”, said Arcadie Barbarosie. [PCRM is shaken from within] According to the CBS-AXA poll, for the first time the number of ardent supporters for the Liberal-Democratic Party (PLDM) has equaled that of the Communist Party (PCRM). Some observers said these represent positive tendencies towards a stabilization and balancing of the political atmosphere compared to earlier periods when it was dominated by preferences for a single party. Arcadie Barbarosie explains the decrease in the number of ardent supporters for the PCRM on the loss of control over administrative resources. “Further, the PCRM has lost its flagship of its media family, the NIT channel. The PCRM is also shaken from within by discords which remain concealed, but which manifest themselves through defections. Those internal disagreements are apparently sensed by the electorate and thus the party's hard core is weakening”. At the same time, the rise in the number of ardent Lib-Dem supporters can be attributed to the administrative factor and also to the fact that this party has a very strong public relations policy, thinks the analyst. [People have little to choose from] The poll showed that in the eventuality of parliamentary elections next Sunday, Parliament would have been made up of the same four parties as today. Arcadie Barbarosie says the people choose the same parties because they see little alternatives. “I don't mean to offend any extra-parliamentary parties, but it seems that our citizen cannot trust other parties for now. This is how the state of mind is today, but things could change in the electoral campaign. I'd like to remark the high percentage of undecided respondents, who could change the situation in the future elections”, said. [People are tired of chaos] Almost half of the poll's respondents said they don't want the current Parliament to dissolve and early elections to be held, and Arcadie Barbarosie suggests this indicates that society prefers a period of stability. “Early elections inspire a feeling of being fed up among society, and people are tired of chaos. It wants a government which they can trust and place its hopes of changes for the better on”. [The Government lacks a strategy of European communication with the public] Arcadie Barbarosie says the poll indicates that the Government doesn't have a proper strategy of European communication with the public. “Our citizen is little informed and has little knowledge of why we should aspire to join the EU, which are the pros and cons, and what's in it for him. The Government should undertake this task, because the media doesn't seem to be very successful”. The analyst notes that other European countries have pursued effective, and even aggressive European communication policies to reduce Euro-skepticism. “The government should not stay shut in its shell and feel satisfied with just promises of EU integration”, said Arcadie Barbarosie. [Mariana Galben, Info-Prim Neo]