Press Release
on the organization of the debate “Campaign Strategies and Tricks in the 2016 Presidential Elections”, the 66th installment of the “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” Series
Public debates series held by the news agency IPN in its conference room with the support of the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”
Held on 17 November 2016, debate 66 brought together Grigore Novac, Igor Dodon’s campaign advisor, Socialist MP; Vladimir Bolea, Maia Sandu’s campaign advisor, deputy chair of PAS Chisinau organization; Pavel Postică, head of Promo-LEX Election Observation Mission; and Igor Boţan, Project’s standing expert.
The debate began with a historical example. In the 2007 Chisinau mayoral race, the Communist candidate Veaceslav Iordan was portrayed on his campaign posters wearing a red work glove as a symbol associated with hard work and good management. Iordan eventually lost the runoff to the then very inexperienced Dorin Chirtoaca, and some pundits blamed it on that ridiculously looking red glove, a symbol that the voters couldn’t stomach but which Iordan’s strategists made him wear because they thought it would make a great mascot.
This is illustrative of how campaign decisions at all levels, even at the level of semiotic choices, can have a great impact on the election outcome. In some ways, candidates themselves are the product of their campaigns and strategists.
If we compare electoral events to dishes being prepared and served by campaign staffs, then voters have a right to know who the chefs are and whether that food is being cooked in sanitary conditions, or if there is any risk of poisoning. This is why we invited key ‘kitchen’ staff from the campaigns of both candidates who competed in the recent presidential runoff as well as a representative of the largest domestic election monitoring effort. They had the mission to guide the public through those “kitchens” and explain the strategies, tactics and tricks used in the presidential race.
In particular, Pavel Postica said the people witnessed an unprecedented election campaign in the 25 years of the declaration of independence. “It was evident that only one will emerge victorious. We haven’t seen such campaigns during 20 years. We got used to the idea that a seat of councilor or of MP can be lost, but it is hard to understand that a very important position can be fully lost. It was that pepper that gave color and put the election runners in the situation to do everything possible to win this campaign. We, the people, and the contenders must admit that the ‘digestion’ period of this campaign is of four years. Like it or not, we will have to ‘consume’ the product of this campaign in the period,” stated Pavel Postica.
Vladimir Bolea said the Party “Action and Solidarity” can go down in history for the election campaign that it organized at the lowest cost. The campaign prior to the presidential elections was unprecedented and with medieval elements, especially as regards the involvement of church officials, who campaigned for Igor Dodon.
“Even if the Orthodox Church during the 25 years campaigned either for the Socialists or for the Communists, making different statements and conducting a very dirty and shameful campaign, with a lot of lies, the goal of the technologies applied by our staff was primarily achieved, even if we lost time by refuting the impudent lies about Syrians and homosexuals,” stated Vladimir Bolea.
Igor Botan said the Church is the keeper of traditions and for a category of people, possibly the largest one, it is the last refuge and the last hope in another life. But when the Church is involved in political games, given its status and role, this thing become dangerous for society too. The priests who spoke in the name of the Church could provide examples to highlight the role of the woman, but did the opposite in order to favor an electoral competitor.
Grigore Novac said the election campaign was harsh. “I cannot remember a hasher and dirtier campaign. Our opponents used scarecrows. I already said that every time we come closer to elections, we hear rumors about different terrorists. The people are held in a vicious circle and are not allowed to make things clear for them. They replace one myth with another. It is regrettable that not the merits are brought into focus, while the voters are divided into pro-West and pro-East. It is a technology that we witnessed after 2009 and this is used not only in our country,” he stated.
Grigore Novac added that unfortunately, the political class didn’t grow enough to conduct a civilized election campaign. When one of the sides is attacked, the other side defends itself based on the principle of self-defense.
The Agency published 5 news stories on the debate (see the English version of www.ipn.md): on 17.11.16, “Election campaign was dirty and with medieval techniques, IPN debate” - http://ipn.md/en/arhiva/80416; on 19.10.16 , “Vladimir Bolea: Geopolitical struggle must be excluded from election campaign” - http://ipn.md/en/arhiva/80421; “Igor Botan: It is political circus to call for patriotism and national union in campaign” - http://ipn.md/en/arhiva/80422; “Grigore Novac: People are tired of promises” - http://ipn.md/en/arhiva/80423; “Pavel Postica: Part of electors voted how boss or priest told them to” - http://ipn.md/en/arhiva/80424.
Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN