Dorin Chirtoaca is back as second most influential politician

After three months in third place, Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca has made a comeback to the second spot of a list of the most influential politicians in Moldova, which is monthly compiled by the Institute of Political Analysis and Counseling “Politicon”. Prime Minister Vlad Filat retains the first place in September, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Iurie Leanca comes in the third, Info-Prim Neo reports. Politicon vice president Ion Tabarta told a press conference on Wednesday that Vlad Filat accumulated a total of 271 points. Dorin Chirtoaca is close behind the Premier with 227 points, going up by 2 positions from August. Iurie Leanca dropped a position, accumulating 224 points. Politicon president Anatol Taranu remarked that throughout the year Vlad Filat remained at the top, and considering the score, the Prime Minister has no actual rivals. “Dorin Chirtoaca is one of Moldova’s main politicians, especially considering the administrative resources he has at hand as General Mayor of Chisinau Municipality. I think that experts have ranked him so high because of his political prospects”, observed Anatol Taranu. As regards Iurie Leanca, the expert explained that Leanca maintained a high position because foreign policy remained a successful field and the official in charge of this domain was one of the most influential politicians. Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu rose 2 positions to fourth place, which is his best ranking this year. Considering his lack of administrative resources, which are an important requirement for political success, the fact that he occupies one of the top places speaks of his considerable political potential, says the expert. President Nicolae Timofti dropped 2 places and occupied the 5th position. According to Anatol Taranu, this is a natural change as the head of state has acted more in the foreign affairs field than within the country. Speaker and Democrat leader Marian Lupu dropped from 5th to 6th place because of several blunders. Minister of the Interior Dorin Recean moved up to 7th place, while Communist leader Vladimir Voronin dropped to 8th. Anatol Taranu sees this as a sign of a decreasing influence of the Communist Party on the political arena. First Deputy Speaker Vlad Plahotniuc remained on the 9th place, while Deputy Prime Minister Eugen Carpov returned to the top 10 after 5 months. Overall, there were no major changes in the September ranking. The list of most influential politicians in September was compiled with the help of 32 experts, who ranked the politicians according to their influence upon the major political decision in the country, their visibility in the mass media and their political prospects.