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 Green Ecologist Party had three members on the Romanian Greens' list participating in this year's EU parliamentary elections, based on a cooperation agreement, which makes it the first Moldovan party to delegate members to the race. The party has a good image, but insufficient resources to promote itself to the large public. The Greens won't make it into the Parliament after the elections on November 30 unless on a joint list with another party. Moldova is one of the countries that has never had a green party in the Legislative.
Electoral strategist Olga Nicolenco thinks that if the party enters a joint list or an electoral bloc it could really have some MPs in the next Parliament. Its strength is the ecologist agenda, a novelty in Moldovan politics. The topicality of the ecological issue will soon put it among the top electoral themes, which has already happened in many Western countries. The Greens' weaknesses revolve around the underdeveloped network of local organizations in villages, cities and districts.
Nicolenco expects the party to focus its electoral campaign on topics like European integration, environment protection, access to safe drinking water, the ecology of living and working spaces, and the fight against corruption.
Victor Juc, of the Institute for Legal and Political Research of the Moldovan Academy of Sciences, recalls that he had said back in 1997 that the green movement had no chance in Moldova. “If we look at Europe, green parties won seats in the parliaments of Germany, Austria and the Scandinavian countries, but not in Latin countries, in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania, or Greece”, he said.
Juc believes that the Green Ecologist Party won't even participate in the electoral campaign and if it does, it will probably withdraw of the eve of elections to through its support behind another party.
Political expert Denis Cenusa says that the Greens are invisible on the political landscape and the 6% electoral threshold is insurmountable for the party. As regards the possibility of an electoral bloc, Cenusa doubts the Greens will be invited in a coalition.
Denis Cenusa thinks that any political party needs public visibility, a clear message and affiliation, and local activity in towns and villages, because Moldova is a predominantly rural country and parties need active territorial organizations.
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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.
Mariana Galben, IPN
