Press Release
on the organization of the debate „Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Eastern diaspora because…“ Developing Political Culture through Public Debates”. Public debates series held by the news agency IPN in its conference room with the support of the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”
Held on 14 February 2019, Debate 105 was the first electoral debate of the three planned to feature candidates running in the single-member constituencies located abroad. We thought it’s important to single out these three constituencies – no.49, no.50 and no.51 – for reasons that will be detailed in the process.
The first debate pitted together: - Valeri Klimenko, Shor Party’s candidate in constituency no.49; - Dumitru Pogorea, independent candidate in constituency no.49. - Nicolae Pascaru, surrogate for Gheorghi Para, Socialist candidate in constituency no.49; - Vladimir Bolea, surrogate for Dorin Frăsîneanu, NOW/DA PAS’s candidate in the same constituency. Nicolae Pascaru and Vladimir Bolea are also candidates running on their parties’ lists and in parallel in other single-member constituencies.
“Why should be Dorin Frăsîneanu elected MP? Because we, all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, want new politicians. Secondly, we know that Mister Frăsîneanu has very good intellectual training acquired at universities in the West and the East,” stated Vladimir Bolea, the representative of Dorin Frăsîneanu, who runs in single-member constituency No. 49 on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM, Platform PAS and DA. According to him, even if this is a very young person, the candidate has a rich professional background, science plus practice. “This is a very good candidate for the future Parliament of the Republic of Moldova,” stated Vladimir Bolea.
He noted that after 27 years of independence, the Republic of Moldova became the poorest and most corrupt state in the European Union. “A number of 106 persons daily emigrate from the Republic of Moldova. The depopulation pace in Moldova can be compared with the pace in such countries as Syria and Yemen where civic wars now take place. We now have the third emigration wave that is due to the so-called disappointment and despair of the population that no longer believes that things can improve in the Republic of Moldova. The bloc ACUM comes with a group of well-trained people who became involved in all the development processes in the Republic of Moldova so as to free justice. The judiciary should be independent and should serve the people so as to depoliticize all the state institutions. These should all serve the people. The posts in the state should be filled based on meritocracy and professional aptitudes, not on nepotism, party relations, etc. We should free the economy from administrative subjugation,” said Vladimir Bolea.
According to him, only by overcoming all these major problems, the Republic of Moldova can become an attractive state where the Moldovan citizens would like to remain and live and to which those who left would like to return. “We vote the bloc ACUM! We vote Dorin Frăsîneanu in the single-member constituency Eastern Europe!” stated Vladimir Bolea.
Dumitru Pogorea, independent candidate in single-member constituency No. 49, said many years ago he was a supporter of the Democratic Forces Party, but in 2001 had to leave for the Russian Federation, for Novosibirsk. In this period, he did important things at his own expense. He built a Crucifixion, made several films, published a book about deportees, etc. He thus decided, together with his family, to run for MP. His candidacy was approved at an extraordinary congress of the Interregional Union of the Associations of Moldovans in Russia “Baștina”, which he founded, in September 2018.
The independent candidate said he left for Russia 18 years ago and started everything from zero. He launched a production company and a building company. He also heads the National Cultural Center “Luceafărul” in Novosibirsk, Russia. ”It wasn’t easy to become involved in politics as I earlier promised not to deal with political affairs, but I and my wife always say: if not we, then who? And I had to become involved in this campaign for a number of reasons,” he noted.
Dumitru Pogorea said every time he returns to Moldova, his heart fills with pain and shame. Therefore, he decided to run. “I ask all the citizens to support me so that we improve things in the Republic of Moldova, starting with education and ending with the police and the judiciary,” he stated.
Nicolae Pascaru, the representative of Gheorghii Para, who runs in single-member constituency No. 49 on behalf of the Party of Socialists, said the PSRM takes part in this campaign with a well-trained team that consists of competent people. Namely the Socialists changed history in 2008, when the leader of the PSRM Zinaida Grecheanyi held the post of Prime Minister and President Igor Dodon served as minister of economy. In that period, the investments hit a record high of US$ 711 million and other economic indicators also grew. Since 2009, the country has witnessed only the destruction of the national interest.
According to Nicolae Pascaru, Gheorghii Para is a very good manager, a professional and a professor at the State University of St. Petersburg. There are over 800,000 Moldovans in Russia and Gheorghii Para helped many expatriates to integrate into Russian society and to find a job. Moreover, as the head of the Moldovan diaspora in St. Petersburg, he staged hundreds of events there. Nicolae Pascaru expressed his conviction that this candidate will represent the PSRM successfully and will win the elections in this constituency.
Nicolae Pascaru noted both Gheorghii Para and the whole team of the Party of Socialists will do their best and the impossible to improve the life of Moldovans in Moldova and to make the state attractive to citizens who went abroad. “It is important to choose the Party of Socialists and the members of this party as these can ensure a decent and honest government that will save the Republic of Moldova,” he said, noting the foreign policy should be well-thought-out and Moldova should have good relations with all the states – Ukraine, Romania, the EU and the U.S. – and a strategic partnership with the Russian Federation.
Valery Klimenko, who runs in in single-member constituency No. 49 on behalf of the Shor Party, is convinced that the people will vote for him as he has 12 years’ experience of work on the Chisinau Municipal Council and, even if this is not the Parliament, it is the legislature of the capital city and the functioning mechanism of the CMC is similar to that in Parliament. This knowledge will play an important role in the future activity in Parliament.
“I run in the parliamentary elections on the lists of the Shor Party. I will not use generalist sentences formulated by parties for over 30 years, that we will do one thing or another. We have a concrete program of activities that was drafted and implemented in Orhei town and this experience is known all over the country. Nowadays, everyone, from Vulcănești to Lipcani, admit that Orhei town in three years and a half became a locality with dynamic economic development. The problems related to infrastructure, social sphere, education in other localities and in general in the country are ignored,” stated Valery Klimenko, noting the living standards in Orhei were improved radically and this experience is to be extended all over the country.
The candidate said the Shor Party is not for the West or for the East. It is for Moldova. “We should think about the country and solve the problems in our country. No one will solve them instead of us, neither Brussels, nor Washington or Moscow. Only together we can do this. This is our position and during the past three years we showed that this is possible. We worked out the model of modern Moldova that is now implemented only in Orhei town, where the people are satisfied with their life. We want this model to work all over the country and this is possible only if we enter Parliament,” stated the candidate.
IPN Agency invited to the debate all the seven candidates running in this constituency, but the representatives of contenders Ina Sîrbu of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Nicolae Țîpovici of the Our Party and independent candidate Igor Ticuș informed that these cannot take part and cannot delegate representatives mainly because they perform electoral activities in the constituency.
The series of debates ”Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Eastern diaspora because...”, forms part of the series of public debates held by IPN News Agency as part of the project “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
The Agency published 3 news stories on the debate (see the English version of www.ipn.md): on 14.02.19, „Please elect me MP on behalf of Eastern Diaspora because...”. IPN debate” - http://ipn.md/en/special/96491, „Political class in Moldova remembers diaspora only in electoral period. IPN debate” - http://ipn.md/en/politica/96496; „State of affairs in Moldova as seen by candidates running in Eastern constituency. IPN debate” - http://ipn.md/en/politica/96495.
IPN promoted the debate before and after the event, in particular the ensuing news stories, using all the available channels, including social networks. Confirmatory materials of deliverables, as well as a media coverage dossier are attached.
Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN