Journalist and political analyst Igor Volnitski said the stake of the new local mayoral elections in Chisinau is very big as about one quarter of the Moldovan voters live in Chisinau. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, which was quoted by IPN, the analyst said the one who will win the battle for the mayoralty of Chisinau will definitely compete in the parliamentary elections of this autumn.
Igor Volnitski does not rule out the possibility that the new elections, even if they were set, could be thwarted by financial instruments. He reminded about the referendum convoked by President Igor Dodon for September 24, 2017. Then the CEC set the referendum date, submitted this request to the competent bodies of the state, but the necessary funds weren’t identified at governmental level.
According to him, if the government is not sure it will win this “match”, it will not even start this, but will intervene with political changes meanwhile. “Here are only several scenarios I anticipate: the first scenario – the elections will not be organized on the pretext of lack of funds, either with the involvement of the Constitutional Court or a national court of law, if someone goes to court. The second scenario – the elections will take place, but, if the result does not suit someone, requests will be made again to the competent bodies of the state and the outcome of these elections will not be validated,” stated Igor Volnitski.
The analyst considers the government will do its best to promote current acting mayor of Chisinau Silvia Radu to the post of mayor so as to show everyone that they can score a victory in Chisinau as they enjoy support, and will shape beforehand the results of the parliamentary elections.
As to the Party of Socialists, the analyst said the situation of this party is very interesting as it must cope with a big challenge. The Socialists must identify the candidate and make a transfer of image from the party to this candidate as this is the key element in the Socialists’ campaign.
“When they push their candidate to the run-off vote, they can consider that the minimal goal was achieved, which is the consolidation of the own voters in Chisinau, and they achieved this goal every time their candidate reached the runoff,” noted the journalist.
He also said that favorites will definitely exist in the current election campaign and these will include, at least now, the candidate of the Socialists, an eventual common candidate of the center-right parties and definitely Silvia Radu. Even if the latter runs as an independent, she will be massively supported from behind by the government.
