Electoral contenders profit from voters' trust in media, expert

The political parties manipulate the voters through their electoral promises, profiting from the increased trust of the voters in the mass media, said Arcadie Barbarosie, the director of the Public Policy Institute, at an informal meeting between the media representatives and the National NGOs Council, Info-Prim Neo reports. Arcadie Barbarosie said that the promises related to higher salaries, benefits or pensions propagated through the media aim only to respond to people's expectations. Some candidates try to speculate on things that people hold dear, like faith. This is in particular the case of the Humanist Party, said the IPP director. Petru Macovei, the director of the Independent Press Association, said that, instead, the media have the obligation to criticize the electoral programs which are “worthless”. Talking about the deficiencies of the electoral programs, Eduard Mihalas, the member of the National Youth Council's Board, regretted the fact that only the Communists Party has a special strategy for the youth, as the other parties either paid little attention to youth policies in their programs or neglected them altogether. The representatives of the NGOs Council and the media representatives met on Monday for a “Five O'clock Talk” to discuss the contents of the electoral programs – to what extent they reflect the party's doctrines and the candidates' vision on what needs to be changed in Moldova.