The anti-Chirtoaca referendum held in the municipality of Chisinau on November 19 is not a good sign for the parliamentary elections of 2018. Also, the Party of Socialists only lost by initiating this plebiscite. The subject was discussed in the program “Politics” on TV8 channel, IPN reports.
Andrei Popov, president of the Institute for Strategic Initiatives, said the main conclusion is that the referendum didn’t give a good signal as to the atmosphere in the upcoming parliamentary elections, anticipating apathy and confusion. “I think the voter turnout at the upcoming legislative elections will be lower than in the last elections. The people are tired, do not understand the situation and feel that there are too many games,” he stated, noting that the Party of Socialists that initiated the referendum lost the struggle from a number of viewpoints.
Political analyst Corneliu Ciurea considers the Democratic Party is the main winner and this party and the parties of the right played the same game. “This game will continue and that pro-European alliance will be ultimately formed,” he stated.
Vlad Kulminski, executive director of the Institute for Strategic Initiatives, noted that the Party of Socialists indeed only lost. “As a matter of fact, the result could be predicted and was reached based on an agreement. After this defeat suffered by the Socialists, the left opened up for new political forces, but these will not be allowed to occupy this place as the PSRM intends to pose as a friend, partner or opponent so that the necessary majority could be created after 2018,” he said.
Chisinau councilor on behalf of the Party of Socialists Stanislav Vartanean said the referendum was stolen from people by manipulation. “The citizens of Chisinau lost as a result of this referendum, while the Democratic Party only profited from this,” stated the councilor.
The turnout at the referendum on the dismissal of Dorin Chirtoaca from the post of mayor general of Chisinau municipality on November 19 was 17.54%. The minimum required turnout for a plebiscite to be validated is 33.3%.
