The diaspora is a class of citizens and human capital without which the Republic of Moldova cannot develop. The diaspora includes the most active people of society who could not endure poverty, misery and injustice and went abroad to look for a better life. This is the opinion of election runners on behalf of the Democratic Party of Moldova, the National Liberal Party, the electoral bloc ACUM Platform DA and PAS and an independent contender who run for MP in constituency No. 50 Westward the Republic of Moldova. The statements were made in the public debate “Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Western Diaspora because...”, which was the 106th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates” staged by IPN Agency.
Oleg Brega, independent candidate in constituency No. 50, said the diaspora includes the most active people in society who could nit ensure poverty, mystery and injustice and went abroad. “Those who were astute learned many things there. Many went to study in the West and the East and can come home with expertise. I think the diaspora is an elite nursery school for our society and we should consult this every time we experience difficulties and look for solutions to political problems. Currently, owing to technologies, we can convoke the congress of the diaspora not only once a year, but as often as we need through videoconferencing. We can consult experts of any level, from any meridian and have the most progressive and best solutions for our failed stat. We could revolutionize the political life if we are more open to foreign experiences,” stated the candidate.
Olga Coptu, a candidate for MP in single-member constituency of the Democratic Party, said she always pleaded for an increasing role of the diaspora. She was among the citizens from the diaspora who asked to form a competent ministry in 2012 first. “Together with other colleagues, we took concrete actions in favor of those from the diaspora, including recommendations concerning the legislative and normative frameworks. I want to say that currently the involvement of the diaspora counts more than ever. That’s why in the period during which I headed the Bureau for Diaspora Relations, there were created excellence groups of the diaspora. They exist and highly-qualified people from the diaspora contributed to their development,” stated the candidate.
She noted that as an MP se aims to fulfil three things she considers absolutely necessary today. A new program is needed to reintegrate the children from the diaspora who return home. Parliament should adopt in the second reading the exception from taxes fir rise who voluntarily return home and a law on the diaspora should be passed so that our citizens do not enjoy only the right to work, but are protected and are recognized as migrants.
Vitalia Pavlichenko, who represented the National Liberal Party’s candidate Gheorghe Furdui in the debate, said the candidate has a very road and concrete program related to what he aims to do for the diaspora. Gheorghe Furdui, together with MEP Maria Grapini, supported all the history and heritage contest and has a permanent dialogue with representatives of the communities abroad. He aims to update the policies on the deport and to promote particular bills concerning those who want to return home. For the purpose, transfrontier programs need to be financed by the Government of Romania, the Government of Moldova and the EU.
The PNL’s candidate also aims to promote concessions for developing businesses in different areas so that those who return home find a job here and are stimulated in this regard. “We will draft twinning and cooperation projects with the authorizes of the states from which Moldovans return home and consider the Government should exert pressure on Parliament so that the formal and informal qualifications gained by the citizens there are recognized,” stated Vitalia Pavlichenko, adding the candidate also pleads for reforming the pension system as almost 1 million Moldovans pay contributions abroad.
Natalia Gavrilița, the representative of Maia Sandu who runs for MP on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM Platform PAS and DA, said the diaspora is the middle class without which Moldova cannot develop. The specific offer of Maia Sandu for the diaspora is based on three pillars: 1. Public services more accessible to the people from the diaspora by decentralizing the services for making documents so that these could be obtained at embassies 2. The contribution of the human capital of the diaspora to the country’s development through a common platform for the participation of the diaspora in key projects implemented in the country. 3.Efficient reintegration of persons who return home.
A number of 83 polling places will be established in constituency No. 50 Westward the Republic of Moldova that covers 23 states, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, Switzerland, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the UK, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Hungary.
On February 14, IPN staged a debate with candidates or representatives of candidates running in single-member constituency No. 49. This involved Vladimir Bolea, the representative of Dorin Frăsîneanu, who runs on behalf of the electoral bloc ACUM Platform PAS and DA, independent candidate Dumitru Pogorea, Nicolae Pascaru, who represented the Party of Socialists’ candidate Gheorghii Para, and Valery Klimenko, who runs on behalf of the Shor Party.
The debate scheduled for February 19 will feature candidates registered in constituency No. 51 the U.S. and Canada. This starts at 2pm.
Earlier, IPN Agency held electoral debates with the participation of representatives of election contestants running in the national constituency.
The series of debates ”Elections 2019: Please elect me MP on behalf of the Western 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.
