Nobody elected us, but we care, PPI director

“Nobody elected us, but we care. That's why we state out opinions and try to influence things,” said Arcadie Barbarosie, the head of the Public Policy Institute (PPI), who, together with other civil society leaders, took attitude to the behavior of the political parties that entered Parliament after the November 28 elections. “If the politicians do not want to listen to us, it is up to them, but we will insistently continue to promote these opinions and will thus try to influence the voters when new elections will take place,” Arcadie Barbarosie said in a debate held at Info-Prim Neo. According to him, if the politicians do not keep their words, the pressure exerted by civil society will mount. “They will bear political responsibility for the decisions they take. We will have local elections in 2011, which will show what the people think, including about the future alliance,” said Arcadie Barbarosie. The head of the Independent Press Association Petru Macovei expressed his concern about the statements that the politicians will not yield to the pressure exerted by civil society organizations as they know what steps to take. “The civil society organizations represent the people, as the parties represent the people by their members. We aim to make the politicians fulfill the promises they made before the elections,” Petru Macovei said, adding that after the elections the politicians centered on the distribution of posts rather than on the values and principles about which they spoke. Catinca Mardarovici, the head of the NGO “Women's Political Club - 50/50”, said that most of the people on November 28 voted for the continuation of the European integration efforts, but the politicians do not take these aspirations into account. Following the foundation of the Civic Forum “Pro Europa” and the launch of other solidarity actions by civil society, some of the political leaders said that the NGOs and the press should not intervene in the negotiations held by the parties or influence their decisions. As a result, a number of civil society organizations called on the party leaders to show flexibility and transparency in the formation of the ruling alliance and to follow the path to European integration.