Politicians 'missing' in yearend interview

Several leaders of Moldovan political parties declined to answer Info-Prim Neo's questions on the performances of the political year 2009. At the same time, the following politicians found some time to do that: the chairwoman of the parliamentary faction of the Communists Party, Eugenia Ostapciuc; the leader of the Moldova Noastra Alliance Party, Serafim Urecheanu; the leader of the Democratic Party, Dumitru Diacov; the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vlad Filat; the leader of the National Liberal Party, Vitalia Pavlicenco; the president of the Social Democratic Party, Dumitru Braghis; the leader of the Liberal Party, Mihai Ghimpu; the leader of the Socialist Party “Patria-Rodina”, Veronica Abramciuc; and member of the Centrist Union's Political Council, Iurie Pojoga. Though accepting to answer, the leader of the European Action Movement, Anatol Petrencu, failed to provide his responses in time. It must be said, however, that the Movement held a yearend news conference and the agency had the possibility to partially fill this gap. The leader of the Christian Democratic faction, Vlad Cubreacov, initially accepted the offer but eventually declined it, citing a busy agenda. The same reason was cited by the president of the Christian Democratic People's Party, Iurie Rosca. The leader of the social-political Movement “Ravnopravie” (“Equity”), Valery Klimenko, refused to answer our questions, saying he didn't trust the agency's professionalism and integrity. The agency regrets that it was unable to offer the public a complete picture, as well as the fact that the mentioned politicians didn't feel the need to communicate with the society through the press. At the same time, we think the allegations of lack of professionalism and, especially, integrity, are too serious to leave them uncommented. Below we reproduce the news story that seemed to have upset Mr. Klimenko, originally published on 2 October 2008, with both involved parties interviewed: [Moldova's Russians dissociate themselves from Valery Klimenko] [2008-10-02/20:09] Members of the Russian Communities Congress of Moldova disapprove of the initiative of congress chairman Valery Klimenko to collect aid for the victims of the military conflict in South Ossetia. In a letter sent to Info-Prim Neo, the members of the Russian communities say the idea of the fundraising campaign belongs exclusively to the social-political movement “Ravnopravie”, whose president is Valery Klimenko. The members of the congress dissociate themselves from the position of Klimenko and his supporters. The congress members also accuse Klimenko of using the congress' name and bank account for “mean purposes”. Klimenko is also accused of embezzling the organization's funds. The signatories write they have repeatedly urged Klimenko to separate the cultural activity from his political and economic activities, or to yield the position of chairman of the Russian Communities Congress to a person with solely cultural concerns. “We believe worthy to mention that, due to his bullying manners, Klimenko ignores our interests and wants us silent,” the letter reads. “Because we don't know where the gathered money will go and how it will be used, we warn people not to fall trapped by the schemes of Klimenko's group. We consider it inhumane to contribute to the enrichment of the members of this group on the account of the Ossetians' suffering.” Valery Klimenko has told Info-Prim Neo he has no clue that some of the congress members could have doubts as to his fund-raising efforts. According to Klimenko, the campaign goes on successfully, and there is enough money to buy 10 tonnes of flour and 10 tonnes of sugar as planned. The money is to be transferred to the administration of South Ossetia. “I'm not so poor as to steal,” Klimenko has commented on the allegations of embezzling the congress's funds. Her added he's running a successful business since 1989.