Acting Minister of Education Maia Sandu should be appointed in charge of more institutions that are plagued by corruption, according to Arcadie Barbarosie, member of the Initiative For a Responsible Government. The expert argued that she had displayed tremendous political will by starting the difficult reform of the education system. The opinion was voiced during the debate “Society and the political class show a poor understanding of the public nature of negotiations on coalition formation: reasons, dangers, solutions”, organized by IPN in partnership with Radio Moldova, which involved Barbarosie as well a other civil society representatives.
“There are urgent problems that have to be solved now and we don't have the budget, which hasn't even been developed. I don't like this style of negotiations because they are repeating the same mistakes. I heard some voices demanding a concrete plan of governance, with fixed goals, but I also want political statements that corruption won't be tolerated anymore. We'd also like these statements to be backed by political will and there can be such will. For example, the Ministry of Education started a series of reforms and had political support. We need to infuse the same kind of political will in the Fiscal Inspectorate, in the Customs Service. Perhaps we should put Maia Sandu in charge of the Fiscal Inspectorate, of the Customs Service, of the National Anticorruption Center or perhaps we should merge them and leave Maia Sandu in charge”, Barbarosie suggested in jest.
The member of the Initiative For a Responsible Government explained that when civil society asked for more transparency it wanted the politicians to show respect towards the people and tell them about their negotiations and priorities and if they need help, civil society is ready to offer it. “I get the feeling that after the electoral campaign is over, our elected officials don't find it necessary to consult the people anymore. It seems to me that these negotiations started on the wrong foot. I would have expected a general statement and then, after 2 or 3 days of talks, another statement for the people and the press”, said Barbarosie.
The debate “Society and the political class show a poor understanding of the public nature of negotiations on coalition formation: reasons, dangers, solutions” is the 36th in the series “Developing political culture in public debates”, organized with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
