Press-Release
on the organization of the debate “Particularities of the 2016 Presidential Elections: View of Candidates”, the 62nd 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 27 September 2016, Debate 62 brought together the prospective candidates (awaiting formal registration with the election authority) Artur Croitor, Valeriu Ghileţchi, Roman Mihăeş, Ilie Rotaru, and Vitalia Pavlicenco.
Like in last week’s debates, the event was hosted by two moderatos, with IPN’s Mariana Galben acting as the person in the audience who the presidential hopefuls were supposed to persuade. This was intended as one of the multiple electoral tests to follow for the candidates until election day on October 30.
In particular, the speakers pointed out some new specific features of the 2016 presidential elections. The possibility of choosing the President by direct vote is welcomed by society, but there is the risk that these elections will not represent the people’s will. The presidential elections are held at a time when society is deeply disappointed and, most probably, a part of the voters will not take part in them.
Potential candidate Vitalia Pavlichenko said these elections have a series of specific features and these are not all positive. First of all, the elections take place amid complete social disappointment and voters want a President who will solve all the existing problems, but this is impossible and society will shortly feel bitterly disappointed. The conditions in the race for the presidency are not equal for all the aspirants when the ruling parties use administrative resources for collecting signatures, while others go from home to home all over the country with limited financial resources. Many participants in the elections count more on the future parliamentary elections and this is a good exercise to see the state of spirit in society.
Aspirant Artur Croitor said it’s good that we will have direct elections after so many years, but these elections are doubtful because the relevant March 4 judgment by the Constitutional Court is doubtful. The task of each candidate is to present the truth to the voters, but barriers are now intentionally placed by setting a required number of signatures so that honest people could not be chosen to government and those who have ruled for 25 years remained in power and maintained poverty. The government should not play with the fire because a large part of society is aggressive and sees in revolt the only solution.
Unaffiliated MP Valeriu Giletski stated that the upcoming presidential elections are unexpected and the March 4 judgment took the political class by surprise. At the same time, such elections are wanted and the Constitutional Court’s decision is legitimate, even if it’s criticized. The people think it is better to hold this constitutional right than to witness again crisis related to the non-election of the President in Parliament. The presidential elections are difficult because they are held amid a not yet solved political crisis and a tense situation. If a larger number of candidates run in elections, the voter turnout will be higher, but there are different barriers, such as the setting of a high number of signatures that need to be collected and the application of stamps by mayors at a time when these are mainly polarized.
Ilie Rotaru considers the fact that the people have the right to choose the President themselves is a positive feature of these elections. But the problem resides in the possibility of rigging the elections. Many people underestimate the role of the observers and representatives on the election day and this is a big problem that enables vote rigging. All the opposition parties should have professional representatives who will oversee the elections.
The Agency published 5 news stories on the debate (see the English version of www.ipn.md): on 27.09.16, “Specific features of presidential elections formulated by independent candidates, IPN debate” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/79251; “Ilie Rotaru: Political class should be changed as often as possible” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/79252; “Valeriu Giletski: More candidates will ensure greater voter turnout” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/79254; “Artur Croitor: Don’t play with the fire!” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/79256; “Vitalia Pavlichenko: I think outcome of presidential elections will disappoint” - http://www.ipn.md/en/arhiva/79253.
Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN