I a democratic process, it is normal for the opposition and the government to treat the protests related to the case of Stoianoglo in a different way. A contest of replies, sometimes tendentious ones, is staged even in the context of the current debates, expert Igor Boțan stated in IPN’s public debate “Last Sunday’s protest: motives, goals, social basis, eventual developments, benefits and risks”, referring to the statements made by the representatives of PAS and BCS.
According to the expert, to realize what’s going on, we should return to the summer of 2019, when the current rivals adopted together the declaration on state capture. The Party of Socialists also reoffered support to the ACUM government led by Maia Sandu, but in a period removed it in concert with the Democratic Party and the state de-capture process was interrupted.
The abandoned things were resumed after PAS came to power with a solid majority in Parliament. The problem resides in the way they work: the government is criticized by the opposition and also by a part of civil society. “There are many opinions that PAS is either hasty or is awkward or does not take all the effects into account. This way, we get to the high-profile case of Stoianoglo. From my viewpoint, the protests are absolutely justified and legitimate,” he stated.
Igor Boțan believes the intensity of these protests and their evolution will depend on the public interest as an indicator of the problem. “What I want is for those from the government and from the opposition, defending their interests and promoting their political agendas, to reach a compromise so as to clean the prosecution service and the justice sector,” said the standing expert of IPN’s project, noting he hopes the case of Stoianoglo will remain in the focus of the political forces, civil organizations and the diplomatic corps so that the process is correct and equitable.
Speaking about the foreign ambassadors working in Chisinau, which were accused by the protesters of interference in Moldovan politics, the expert said the EU ambassadors abide primarily by the resolutions of the European Parliament and the memorandum of November 2017 concentering the conditionality for offering support to Moldova and also by the declaration on state capture.
As to protesters’ accusations that President Maia Sandu is responsible for the bank fraud as she served as minister of education at that time, Igor Boțan said not the ministers are responsible for this situation, but those who planned the scheme and “infected the state”, which is created conditions that enabled to rob the banking system.
The public debate “Last Sunday’s protest: motives, goals, social basis, eventual developments, benefits and risks” that was organized by IPN in the framework of the project “Developing Political Culture trough Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
