Parliamentary elections will take place in Moldova on November 30. Some of the political parties have already started, officially or not, electoral actions, while some haven't. IPN Agency set out to sketch the “portraits” of political parties as recorded by society's perception, before the official start of the electoral campaign. We consider this to be a useful exercise for Moldovan voters, who will gain additional and concentrated information that they may find useful on the day of elections, and also for the parties themselves, who will get some hints on how to improve their image. This portrait might also help to better understand what one or another Moldovan party wants to be and what it really is. To this goal, many experts have been asked to comment on the parties' chance to make it into the next Parliament, the way they fulfilled their previous electoral promises, the possible coalitions, topics, tactics and strategies they might employ to get the voters' attention. Political parties are presented in order of the number of seats they hold in the current Legislative and of the results obtained during the previous parliamentary elections in 2010.
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The National Liberal Party is on the far right of the political spectrum and gets the votes only of people sharing its vision, whose number won't grow. By promoting one single idea, PNL cannot attract any other voters. It needs to change its image and promote other members besides leader Vitalia Pavlicenco.
Expert Lina Grau says that PNL fails to draw public attention. “We see Mrs. Pavlicenco on TV and on blogs, but I didn't notice anything about the party's activity”, she stressed. Lina Grau doesn't think PNL can pass the electoral threshold and criticized its inefficient style. When a party can't convince more than 1% of voters, it must think about what is wrong and change something. If it goes on like this, it either has an indefatigable conviction or there are some other interests at work.
Political analyst Olga Nicolenco says that one may like or dislike the idea to unite with Romania, but PNL's brave fight for this idea commands respect. This explains the honorable image of a party led by a woman. It must also be considered that it was PNL who first proposed to create a pro-European bloc, and that may be the way for it to make it into the Parliament. PNL's strengths are its perseverance, a united team and presence on social networks. Its weakness is the lack of large public support for unification with Romania.
Expert Denis Cenusa says PNL is visible to the public, but it's considered a radical party by many because of its message to abolish Moldovan statehood by unifying with Romania. Denis Cenusa gives PNL no odds to pass the electoral threshold in November and thinks its main problem is the lack of an electoral pool to attract voters from. The Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Reformists Party all share about the same electorate with PNL, and the latter can attract only the most radical voters and their number can't grow.
Political analyst Nicolae Negru says PNL's image is merged with that of Vitalia Pavlicenco and there are few others representing the party. “Alexandra Can was one who appeared in the mass media and I deeply respect her. PNL has a problem, it must build a distinct image from that of Vitalia Pavlicenco”, argued Negru. He says PNL has other members as well and praised its perseverance for obtaining in court the right to demand unification with Romania. According to him, Pavlicenco is appreciated, but her noisy behavior marginalizes the party. PNL needs a better designed message and a more temperate and coherent behavior.
Victor Juc, of the Institute for Legal and Political Research of the Moldovan Academy of Sciences, notes that PNL took over a message promoted by the People's Front in the early '90s. He expects PNL to gain between 1 and 2% of votes this fall, but no more, because people are afraid of unification with Romania and such ideas aren't very popular. Victor Juc thinks Vitalia Pavlicenco knows her odds and will try to create a bloc with the Liberals or the Liberal Reformists. However, in the first case PNL won't be of much use for the Liberals, in the second, PLR won't be of much use to PNL.
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As part of this campaign, IPN has already published a review of the experts' opinions on the Communists' Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Liberal Reformists Party, the Renaissance Party, the Socialists' Party and the Democratic Action Party.
Mariana Galben, IPN
