Civic society in Gagauzia should become powerful and stable, should have influence on the agenda of the local authorities and should interact and cooperate with the administrative bodies so that these work in the interests of the people. At the same time, the NGOs should be free from political influence, director of “Piligrim-Demo” Center Mihail Sirkeli stated in the international conference “GROW 2018: Civic Gagauzia – Strengthening civil society in Gagauzia” that was held in Avdarma on September 26, IPN reports.
“The politicians in the region use the public organizations as diesel engines in the political activity and we consider this is not right as the public organizations should not do this,” stated Mihail Sirkeli.
EU Ambassador to Moldova Peter Michalko said the members of civil society at international level are regarded as agents of change. The political factors should understand that civil society is an active partner in the implementation of policies and contributes to ensuring a transparent political process.
Vladimir Kyssa, chairman of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, stated that the civil organizations should have a permanent dialogue with the local authorities and should become involved in the discussions on draft laws. “We are open to cooperation. We should find a way to strengthen the capacities of public organizations,” he stated.
Referring to the NGOs’ dependence on political parties, the director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) Igor Boțan said the NGOs become involved in politics not necessarily because they want to, but because they are somehow obliged to cooperate with the authorities so as to keep that segment in which they specialize and that they know best. “They become engaged in this process not for gaining points, taking part in elections or struggling for power. They just want to put the principles in which they believe into practice. It happened so that the problem of NGOs and political parties in Gagauzia appeared not because the leaders and active people in Gagauzia wanted, but because the national legislation was created so that the active citizens and politicians at a certain moment had to found NGOs,” Igor Boțan explained.
The international conference “”GROW: Civic Gagauzia – Strengthening civil society in Gagauzia” was at its second edition.
