The possible destabilization of the situation in the regions according to the Gagauz model, fueled by provocations in the Transnistrian region, can seriously undermine the people’s sympathy for the European integration course before the parliamentary elections. The opinion is contained in a commentary published on the website promis.md, IPN reports.
Commentary author Igor Botan, executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, considers that the referendums for the leaders of the Gagauz region represent an ‘anchor of the Moldovan statehood’, undermined by the ‘Romanian danger’, because the European integration would camouflage the latent policy on Moldova’s union with Romania. For the central authorities of Moldova, the referendums represent a violation of the legislation that weakens the state construction.
“The impact of the referendums held in Gagauzia is rather political. They showed the weakness and vulnerability of the central power in relation to the autonomous unit. In the four years of government, the central authorities often showed juridical nihilism and this thing was invoked by the organizers of the illegal plebiscites,” it is said in the commentary.
The author underlines that the immediate consequences of the referendums include the worsening of the relations between the region and the central power and the temporary consolidation of the regional political elite following the split of the national one. A consequence is also the split of the attraction pole for the people who are for integration into the Eurasian Customs Union.
According to Igor Botan, the referendum is like a precursor of the elections for the Bashkan. “In an electoral year with ordinary elections for the Governor, set to take place in December 2014, the support offered to initiatives similar to those put up for referendum is a manifestation of ritual. Therefore, the deputies of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia on behalf of all the parties — the PDM, PLDM, PCRM - probably could not afford another behavior than that they had. From this perspective, the rather indulgent attitude of the PDM and PLDM to the own members from the People’s Assembly is not surprising.
The author also said that the blaming of the PCRM for the referendums in Gagauzia forms part of the political game and represents the settling of an old score.
