Civic activists, representatives of a number of communities of Moldova, condemn the messages inciting hatred and social division that are promoted in the election campaign prior to the runoff presidential elections. In a news conference at IPN, these said not the personal life, but the professional skills must be decisive when choosing a candidate.
Polina Cheastuhina, the representative of the Group of Feminist Initiatives in Moldova, said the last century’s stereotypes concerning the women’s role in society are maximally exploited. By such messages, they perpetuate the idea that the value of the woman is not equal to her skills, but resides in the fact that she is fertile and has a man who loves her. “The woman’s place is everywhere and she has the right to run and vote in elections. We obtained the suffrage 100 years ago and have the responsibility of exercising this right consciously, aware of all the speeches delivered in the campaign,” stated Polina Cheastuhina.
Olga Batca, the representative of the Resource Center for Human Rights, said the women in the current election campaign are attacked, while the advisers of the candidates for President who formulated the message that the women are noted voted made a huge mistake and showed unprofessionalism. Now the parties that launched this tendency use different methods to incite hatred.
Tezera Abebe, of the community of people native of African-Asian countries in Moldova, called on the competent bodies to deal with the messages of hatred toward refugees promoted in the election campaign. When a public figure resorts to hate speech and involves the mass media in disseminating this message, this should be regarded as aggravating factor.
The representative of the Information Center Genderdoc-M Angelica Frolov said the person who wants to be elected President must come up with solutions so that all the people enjoy better living standards. If this disseminates hatred and division in the election campaign, the person will continue doing so after the elections as well. She noted that her political views should not be regarded as the voice of the LGBT community of Moldova of which she forms part. She said that after she expressed her personal political preferences on a social networking site, she became the heroine of a lampoon and was criticized by friends for damaging the image of a politician by showing her support for this.
Mihail Placinta, the representative of the Ukrainian community in Moldova, said the young people are very concerned about what is going on in the country, while the candidate who wants to become Head of State should be careful of the statements he makes in the election campaign so as not to affect the relations with other states. The fact that Ukraine’s Ambassador in Chisinau was called to Kiev last week is a first signal that things cannot go on like this, while the candidate of the left should think well before saying something.
In the same news conference, activist Oleg Brega said the anti-European hysteria can lead to Moldova’s exclusion from the ranks of the civilized states. If we do not want to accept the international treaties concerning the basic human rights, we will not be qualified to become a member of the Customs Union either as this also requires to obey human rights, the rights of migrants and of the members of the LGBT community.
