On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the declaration of Moldova’s Independence, IPN News Agency decided to depict the portrait of the current Republic of Moldova. For the purpose, it provoked a number of people, including state officials, politicians, businessmen, civil rights activists and persons without posts and titles, but who have what to say. The generic picture is entitled “Thoughts about and for Moldova”.
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Marian Lupu: Despite all the difficulties and disappointments, we have a country that managed, at least partially, to answer the people’s needs and expectations.
Independence – a successful project
National independence is a project that succeeded, thinks Marian Lupu, chairman of the Democratic Party. “I think the biggest accomplishment of our 25 years of Independence is the crystallization of Moldova’s pro-European option. It’s a choice that appeared in our society some 10 years ago and has been on a permanently growing trend for the last 7 years”, said the PDM leader.
Since the proclamation of Independence until today, the biggest foreign policy victory is the signing of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement in 2014. Marian Lupu is also happy with the rise of the private sector, especially in agriculture, that provided Moldova with a new middle class, which is the engine of society.
The list of failures is topped for Marian Lupu by the Transnistrian problem, as the country still hasn’t been reunited after two and a half decades. “We also must admit that the emigration of many Moldovans is a painful phenomenon, affecting a lot of families and creating some demographic challenges for the next few decades”, added the politician. However, he is confident that the next 25 years in the country’s history will be better than the first 25 and when Moldova celebrates half a century of Independence, it will be more developed and more prosperous.
The political system “needs to settle down”
The PDM leader deems Moldovan politics pretty unstable. The rise and fall of so many parties since 1991 proves that the political system “needs to settle down”. Nonetheless, Moldova learned to do democracy and this is very important. We learned to produce political changes in the polling stations and not on the street.
Even the economy, according to Lupu, changed for the better, thanks to the modernization of the private sector with the help of funds offered by our development partners. The Democrat admits though that many enterprises failed because the government didn’t take proper care of them. He thinks that more effort should be put into promoting Moldova abroad because tourism and the service sector could be very profitable.
As concerns the governments we had so far, Lupu says we should have had a clear path from the beginning, like the Baltic countries did. The political leaders should have made the European choice from the very beginning and united the country around this goal. “The delay cost us a lot and we still paying for it”, said the PDM chairman.
Every Moldovan wants to live in a better country, with a high productivity of labor, Western-level wages, properly functioning public services and a solid infrastructure. Lupu thinks the EU model fits all these criteria. The government must now do what other East European governments did before: to strengthen state institutions, harmonize national legislation with the EU laws and attract investments. “It’s important to stress that these measures take time to bear fruit, it doesn’t work instantly”, explained the politician.
Marian Lupu says that people should be part of the changes they so desire. They should do their jobs properly, be politically active, participate in the life of the local community, in the nongovernmental sector, to try to produce small changes for the better whereever they live. The sum of these small changes will lead to the overall improvement that people want.
Every vote can change things
Asked whether this fall’s presidential elections could change things in the country, the Democrat leader answered that new elections always bring fresh hope for the future and that every vote can change things for the better. “I expect that the presidential elections this fall will be a clear signal that Moldova is continuing on its European path towards development”, said Lupu.
According to him, we have half a year of clear pro-European progress, a roadmap assumed in March and recently finalized, an agreement with IMF experts, and the unblocking of the loan from Romania, to be followed by the unfreezing of European financing. Moldova is firmly regaining the trust of its development partners and has all the chances to finish the year with some economic growth, at least judging by the first 7 months. These things need strengthened and nothing would strengthen Moldova’s return to the good path better than an outcome of the presidential ballot confirming the European choice.
Marian Lupu added that Moldova can decide its own destiny, without asking permission from anyone. Nevertheless, in a globalized and interconnected world, Moldova is subject to external influences like any other country. “As a small country, we have little chance to project our own influence and that is why we want a stable and predictable international system. We cannot say we’re dependent on something or someone, but there are some risks and vulnerabilities. By strengthening the state and the economy, developing relations with EU and CIS partners, we will be better equipped to deal with any vulnerability”, said the Democrat.
Marian Lupu concluded by saying that being proud of being Moldovan means to be proud of one’s birthplace and to work to leave behind a better country.
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Marian Lupu is chairman of the Democratic Party and head PDM’s parliamentary group. He was Minister of Economy (2003-2005), Speaker of the Parliament (2005-2009 and 2010-2013) and acting President of Moldova (2010-2020).
Mariana Galben, IPN
