The leaders of the Party “Action and Solidarity (PAS), the Party “Platform Dignity and Truth” (PPPDA) and the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) said the visit they paid to Strasbourg during July 3-5 was intense and included a series of meetings with representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe. According to them, the goal of the visit was to inform the European officials about the situation created in Moldova after the adoption of abusive court decisions to invalidate the early mayoral elections held in Chisinau. The representatives of the three parties said they had to refute a number of false reports disseminated by representatives of the regime, who visited Strasbourg in the same period.
In a news conference at IPN, PAS leader Maia Sandu said all the interlocutors condemned the abusive court decisions by which the mayoral elections in Chisinau were invalidated and the situation was classed as undemocratic. In the same period, the Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, minister of finance and other officials were also in Strasbourg on a visit. “Several false reports we heard after the meetings these had with representatives of the European institutions included the fact that the legislation in the Republic of Moldova does not allow calling on the people to vote without indicating who they should vote for. But this is not true. They also misinformed that Andrei Nastase admitted in court that he committed these violations. We had to provide evidence to show the truth,” noted Maia Sandu.
The politician said that except for several MPs of the Social Democratic Party of Romania, nobody believes in the independence of the judiciary in Moldova and it is clear to everyone that the decision to invalidate the elections was a politically motivated one. The resolution adopted by the European Parliament is harsh and this is bad for Moldova as the irresponsible actions of the government distances the county from the European Union. “Instead of assuming the consequences of bad decisions taken by it, the regime launched a real war against the European institutions and blames either these or the opposition. From the statements made by representatives of the regime, we learned that the EU is to blame for the fact that the justice system works improperly. We learned that the opposition is to blame for all the things that happened and we wonder since when the opposition has been responsible for the implementation of reforms in the justice sector or maybe the opposition is to blame for daring to take part in the elections in Chisinau?” asked the PAS leader.
Maia Sandu also said that among the discussed subjects was the introduction of the mixed electoral system. The European officials reiterated their request to restore the proportional representation system, as the Venice Commission recommended. The attacks on the EU do not help the authorities or the citizens. “The further this regime takes us from the European Union, the harder it will be to return,” she stated.
PPPDA head Andrei Nastase said the resolution adopted by the European Parliament is a sentence given to the current government for the deviations and crimes committed after the mayoral elections held in Chisinau. By an official, unprecedented act, the European Parliament made common cause with the people who protest in Chisinau against dictatorship. “Regrettably, the undemocratic practices of the regime in Chisinau – the Plahotniuc regime – that acts in close complicity with Dodon, did so that the European Parliament had to ask the European Commission to suspend any financial support to our country. It is known that the European Parliament requested the European Commission to formulate a set of conditions that the Moldovan authorities will have to meet for benefitting again from support,” stated the politician, noting that the validation of the mayoral elections, the annulment of the mixed system and investigation of the banking fraud are among the top conditions. The European institutions insist on the investigation of the banking fraud and the recovery of the stolen funds and this bothers the Moldovan government the most.
Andrei Nastase also said that we are on the correct path. “I want to transmit a very simple message to the citizens of the Republic of Moldova – we are not alone. The civilized world is near us and we should continue what we started. We cannot allow dictatorship to be established in Moldova. That’s why I call for unity, solidarity as we will definitely succeed together,” stated the PPPDA leader.
PLDM chairman Viorel Cibotaru said the European Parliament’s resolution is rather harsh, but the proposals of some of the European political families were even harsher. “This decision by the European Parliament was predictable after the elections were invalidated by involving different state institutions, including the Central Election Commission and Parliament, which refused to discuss the issue and to adopt a position,” he stated. The Liberal-Democratic politician noted that the Democratic Party and the whole government have now a reason to ponder over and should identity all the legal possibilities to fulfil the demands formulated by the protesters.
