The candidates running in single-member constituency No. 51 the U.S. and Canada promise the voters that they will obtain the facilitation of the issuing of documents and would create an investment fund for the citizens who are far from home if they are voted MPs. These consider the development of democracy and the independence of justice in the country would bring back home the Moldovans who went abroad for a better life. The promises were made in the public debate ““Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Western Diaspora because...”, which was the 107th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates” staged by IPN Agency.
The Party of Socialists’ candidate Gaik Vartanean said the main task of the state is to stop the migration of people as 106 people daily leave the country at present. During the past few years, the authorities could do nothing to reduce this flow. Also, to bring back the people to the country, the state institutions should stop work. “Currently, all the state institutions are paralyzed. They are subdivisions of the Democratic Party and none of them works. The judicial system was brought to its knees and does not function. We are in international isolation. Financing to the country does not come because the PDM is at odds with Europe and does not want to discuss with Russia in general. The Americans look coldly at them. That’s why if the situation does not change and a new power does not come, things will worsen. There are now no conditions for our migrants to return home,” stated the candidate.
He noted that most of the Moldovans went abroad for a long period of time and some of them settled overseas owing to the distance. For them, it is very important to be proud of their country so that they are not ashamed to tell where they come from. ”What is Moldova now? Moldova is the country where US$ 1 billion was stolen… It is a gray offshore area where an oligarch rules. This is what they say about Moldova. The ten years of government by the pro-European alliance led to such backsliding,” stated Gaik Vartanean, noting the people from the diaspora should have access to high-quality electronic services and the Moldovans abroad should be permanently involved in the communication with the state.
Radu Marian, the representative of Dumitru Alaiba, who runs on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM, said the candidate for MP has three solutions that he wants to present to the diaspora in the U.S. First of all, the Moldovan citizens want to make investments in the local community. Stability, predictability of the economic sector and of the political sector are needed for the purpose. These things are now absent.
“The foreign investment is at a very low level. Our labor force leaves the country. The key priority for Dumitru Alaiba is to implement economic reforms that would enable the citizens from the diaspora to invest at home. The fight against grand corruption is his second priority. Dumitru Alaiba will openly lobby for opening international investigations into the financial crimes, while the bloc ACUM pledges to vote the so-called Magnitsky law during the first days. The candidate also pleads for high-quality services especially online, when applying for different documents, so as to ease the work of those who left,” stated Radu Marian. According to him, if ACUM comes to power, no one will be above the law and all those who will commit illegalities will be held accountable.
Dumitru Jomir, the representative of independent candidate Valeriu Ghiletski, said the existence of such a large diaspora is the result of two realities – a positive and a less positive one. The less positive one is the low living standards in Moldova, while the positive one is the fact that the citizens are free to travel and will always tend to go to a place where the living standards are better and there are more opportunities. “I would like to say that the diaspora is a very important resource for the development of the Republic of Moldova. It is sad that the citizens leave, but when they go abroad they gain experience and can become involved in the country’s development later,” he stated.
In this regard, Valeriu Ghiletski has two priorities. The first priority is to bring the services in Moldova closer to the citizens from the diaspora so that the people could easier benefit from state services. For the purpose, the candidate aims to create a platform of discussions with the diaspora in the future Parliament. The second priority is to motivate the diaspora to become involved in the decision-making process in Moldova and to create investment possibilities. For the purpose, the candidate would create an investment fund for the diaspora, which would be guaranteed by the state and by which the Moldovans abroad could invest and contribute to developing the country’s economy and to also gain money. “It will be a win-win process that would contribute to the improvement of the living standards at home and to the fructification of the experience of our citizens in the U.S. and Canada,” concluded Dumitru Jomir.
Olga Coptu, the representative of Gennady Moroșanu, who runs for MP on behalf of the Democratic Party of Moldova, said that given the experience of the candidate in the U.S. and his knowledge of Western democracies, Gennady Moroșanu insists on the fact that direct investment should be attracted from the diaspora and from foreign citizens. He will propose an initiative to create an investment fund at the level of the local public authorities, possibly by guaranteeing these together with the development partners. He will also suggest carrying out a feasibility study for transforming Moldova into a hub given that Moldova is at a crossroads. He pleads for rehabilitating the Mărculești airport as the air transport, as well as the railway and road transport are important.
Olga Coptu noted the Democrats’ candidate also intends to reform the education system, especially the professional-technical line, by taking into account the current labor market needs. “It is very important to initiate a broad program for promoting the Republic of Moldova in the U.S. and Canada so as to facilitate the political and economic relations between Moldova and these states. Sunday schools could be opened for the diaspora in the U.S. and Canada. As a person of culture, Gennady Moroșanu insists on the promotion of the cultural relations between Moldova and the U.S. and Canada by staging festivals and by involving the film industry and theater.
On February 14, IPN staged a debate with candidates or representatives of candidates running in single-member constituency No. 49. This involved Vladimir Bolea, the representative of Dorin Frăsîneanu, who runs on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM Platform PAS and DA, independent candidate Dumitru Pogorea, Nicolae Pascaru, who represented the Party of Socialists’ candidate Gheorghii Para, and Valery Klimenko, who runs on behalf of the Shor Party.
The debate held on February 18 featured candidates or representatives of candidates registered in constituency No. 50, namely the PDM’s candidate Olga Coptu, the representative of Maia Sandu who represents the electoral bloc ACUM Natalia Gavrilița, the representative of the National Liberal party’s candidate Gheorghe Furdui, Vitalia Pavlichenko, and independent Oleg Brega.
Earlier, IPN Agency held electoral debates with the participation of representatives of election contestants running in the national constituency.
For February 20, IPN scheduled debates with sociology and political sciences experts who will depict possible post-electoral scenarios starting at 2pm.
The series of debates ”Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Western diaspora because...”, forms part of the series of public debates held by IPN News Agency as part of the project “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
