Experts and political analysts regard differently the actions of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the decision of the Appeals Court to exclude the Party “Patria”, whose list of candidates for MP was headed by controversial businessmen Renato Usatyi, from the electoral race. The opinions were stated in the program “Politics” on TV7 channel and in the program “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel, IPN reports.
In the program “Politics”, Ion Dron, who heads the Association “Justice and Fairness”, said that from legal viewpoint, the authorities acted correctly. “I think the political arena of Moldova got rid of an Ostap Bender. The authorities took the right steps as the legislation bans the financing of parties from outside. A problem will be if the authorities acted by order of a political leader,” he stated.
Former deputy minister of foreign affairs Valeriu Ostalep considers both the removal of Renato Usatyi from the electoral race and the searches at the homes of activists of “Antifa” are nothing but manipulations by the ruling parties. “For me it’s clear that this is manipulation of the voters, even if I didn’t see the indictment against Usatyi. I don’t think that the several young men can mount a coup in this country,” he said in the same program.
Viorel Cibotaru, director of the European Institute for Political Studies, welcomed the exclusion of the party that included Renato Usatyi in its electoral list from the race. “The authorities shouldn’t have allowed this dubious figure to become involved in Moldovan politicos. He violated all the ethnic and moral norms. I met a lot of people who expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the authorities do not take measures in relation to Usatyi. There is no need to make such a fuss and to accuse the ruling parties of involvement as the votes that were to be given to Usatyi will go to the opposition parties,” he stated in “Politics”.
On the other hand, political analyst Alexei Tulbure expressed his indignation at such a development. “The authorities acted in the style of the 1930s. It’s impossible to examine a case with over 600 pages during an hour, as those from the CEC asserted. The Party “Patria” was simply punished selectively. Why didn’t they punish the Democratic Party also? The last two concerts held in the central square of Chisinau, which cost fabulous amounts, are a serious reason for excluding this party from the electoral race,” he stated.
In the program “Fabrika”, political analyst Roman Mihaes said Renato Usatyi was caught with several millions of lei after he spent hundreds of millions of lei. “His accountants probably misled him. But a violation was committed and he should have been punished,” he noted.
International law expert Vitalie Gamurari in the same program said that this case must become a precedent in Moldova. “This case should be an example for others. This state has clear rules that must be obeyed,” he stated.
