Parliamentary elections will take place in Moldova on November 30. Some of the political parties have already started, officially or not, electoral actions, while some haven't. IPN Agency set out to sketch the “portraits” of political parties as recorded by society's perception, before the official start of the electoral campaign. We consider this to be a useful exercise for Moldovan voters, who will gain additional and concentrated information that they may find useful on the day of elections, and also for the parties themselves, who will get some hints on how to improve their image. This portrait might also help to better understand what one or another Moldovan party wants to be and what it really is. To this goal, many experts have been asked to comment on the parties' chance to make it into the next Parliament, the way they fulfilled their previous electoral promises, the possible coalitions, topics, tactics and strategies they might employ to get the voters' attention. Political parties are presented in order of the number of seats they hold in the current Legislative and of the results obtained during the previous parliamentary elections in 2010.
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The Communist Reformist Party (PCRM), which was registered this year and is headed by Ruslan Popa, seems to be misleading the voters of the Communist Party (PCRM). However, experts say it’s not so easy to deceive the voters and this party does not have chances of entering Parliament due to accidental votes.
Political analyst Ion Tabarta, vice director of the Institute for Political Analysis and Consultancy “Politicon”, wondered who this party belongs to – an oligarch from inside who wants to hit the PCRM or it is a project from outside. “We do not yet know much about this party. We can say that the party’s leader is an active personage in Moldovan politics, but this activism is rather designed to play the game of a person from the shadow,” said Ion Tabarta. The expert is convinced that the Communist Reformist Party does not have chances of entering Parliament after the November 30 elections, the party’s goal being rather to confuse the supporters of the Communists so as to tear away votes.
Expert in politology Denis Cenusa considers that this party is used to confuse the electorate by the similitude to the PCRM as they have the same abbreviation and similar symbols. “The presence of this party in ballots will create confusion. As a result, they can garner some of the votes, but I don’t think they could enter Parliament. A lot depends on how the Communist Party manages to prepare the voters so as to avoid confusion in elections,” stated the expert.
Political analyst Nicolae Negru said the leader of the Communist Reformist Party is not well known. In Moldova the electors vote yet for the leaders who assert themselves, are charismatic and good orators. “We cannot say that Ruslan Popa has these qualities. The party has yet slim chances given that the Communist Reformist Party has similar symbols, the same abbreviation and colors with the Communist Party. Some of the electors can vote for this party by mistake,” said the analyst. According to Nicolae Negru, it’s not excluded that the more radical part of Communist voters will support the reformists. But the notion of reformist Communist is senseless. The voters in Moldova know only a certain type of Communists.
Vice director of the Institute of Legal and Political Research of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Victor Juc said that such a notion in the specialized literature is called party clone. The idea of forming an alternative Communist party appeared long before. Similar attempts have been made earlier. The Communist Reformist Party is more leftist than the Communist Party. If it does not poll votes, this party will disappear. It pursues other goals than to promote a positive message in Parliament. It wants to attract votes from the Communist Party.
Expert Lina Grau believes that this party is a project against the PCRM, which does not cope now with the election campaign. “I don’t think they will venture into a very active campaign as they know that Vladimir Voronin (the leader of the PCRM – e.n.) is on positions and his presence alone ensures a good result for the Communists in elections. The members of this party are opportunists who tried to take revenge. I don’t see them in the campaign, but, if they enter it, they will make effort to take revenge on their former colleagues,” stated Lina Grau. She believes that the party could mislead some of the voters, but she does not see a team and cannot say if the party members manage to mobilize themselves for one goal – to mislead some of the voters and steal percentage from the Communists. “This is definitely someone’s project. I don’t think it belongs to the same one politician, as they rumor, but the related statements could contain a piece of truth,” stated Lina Grau.
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As part of this campaign, IPN has already published a review of the experts' opinions on the Communists' Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Liberal Reformists Party, the Renaissance Party, the Socialists' Party, the Democratic Action Party, the National Liberal Party, the Antimafia People's Movement and the People's Party, and the Green Ecologist Party. and the Party of Regions of Moldova, and the Party “Democratia Acasa” (Democracy at Home)., and the People’s Force Party.
Mariana Galben, IPN
