Only a part of the electoral promises turn into government objectives. Usually, the Government’s program is designed based on the development strategies, recommendations of partners or the objectives set down in the cooperation documents and the promises made in the election campaign are not taken into account, said authors of the report “Republic of Moldova from promises to accomplishments. Evolution in the main areas in 2014-2018” that was produced by the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT as part of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections. This was presented in a news conference at IPN.
According to the report, the impact of the Democratic Party’s electoral economic initiatives that were included in the program of 2014 and were implemented during the past two years after taking over wasn’t fully felt by the national economy. More foreign investment could not be attracted and more jobs could not be created and external migration wasn’t diminished. As regards infrastructure and communications, some of the promises are fulfilled partially or were already delivered. In the public administration, the commitments undertaken by the Government are general and declarative. The situation concerning local autonomy and decentralization remains one of the areas where problems and shortcomings continue to be witnessed. Regrettably, the authorities’ reaction remains formal and declarative.
In the public order and justice sectors, it was established that the victims of domestic violence remain unprotected. The law is not appropriately implemented, especially as regards the execution of restraining orders and holding accountable of offenders. Politicization is one of the problems of the judiciary. As solution is to review the method of naming judges at the Supreme Court of Justice and members of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The relevant bill remains yet outside debates.
In the area of foreign relations, the parties that entered Parliament made a series of related promises, but practically none of these was appropriately delivered. The opposition parties didn’t have the necessary instruments, while the ruling parties met with impediments. The foreign relations developed in a way that was different from the one promised by the electoral contenders. The relations with the EU reached a critical point. The financial support for the justice reform was stopped, while the macro-financial assistance was suspended. The relations with the Russian Federation worsened considerably.
Even if the electoral promises determine the behavior of voters, their fulfillment remains rather difficult and costly. “The electoral promises should conquer the voters, but moments appear during the mandate when not really popular measures need to be taken. No one promised to raise the retirement age, but this was done as it was a necessity. We should take into account such aspects as well,” stated the ADEPT executive director Igor Boţan.
Secretary of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections Polina Panainte said the contenders in their electoral programs should include promises coordinated with what the Republic of Moldova pledged to do before some of the partners.
The report was compiled as part of the project “Encouraging competitive parliamentary elections by informing about political parties” that is implemented by the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT with financial support from the Embassy of the Netherlands.
