The year 2018 has been marked by accomplishments and challenges too. Progress has been made at economic, macroeconomic, social levels, but challenges were also witnessed, related to the internal political situation, the relationship with the European partners. All these left an imprint on 2018, which is a pre-electoral one, Deputy Parliament Speaker Valeriu Ghiletski stated in a public debate entitled “Year 2018: accomplishments, failures and challenges in Moldova’s European integration” that was the 99th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates” staged by IPN News Agency and Radio Moldova.
“I think we are not yet able to assess the witnessed accomplishments. If these comes from a government we do not support, we tend to ignore or to even criticize these results. If they come from elsewhere, they are presented in a much more favorable light. However, I think this year was generally good. There was peace and quietness in the country and this looks very important to me. Before the election campaign, we need freedom and peace,” stated the Deputy Speaker.
He added that the people are those who will have a say in elections, as it is normal to be so in a democratic society. They are those who should carry out assessments. The politicians can have subjective assessments. Even if the people are subjective in parts, in a democratic society this is the test that should be recognized by everyone. The citizens play a decisive role in all the processes. The politicians struggle to persuade the citizens, but when the electoral process is finished, its results should be respected and the country should be governed.
As regards the invalidation of the mayoral elections in Chisinau, Valeriu Ghiletski said this is unacceptable and he and his colleagues from the European People’s Party of Moldova condemned such an act. “Even if the court decided that the elections should be invalidated as there were reasons for doing so, the electoral process should have been continued. It is important for the people to be able to state their will in elections. We regret that an amendment that would have helped clarify the situation in the future was not adopted. The CEC interpreted provisions of the Election Code and didn’t want to organize new elections,” he stated.
The Deputy Speaker said results were achieved despite the criticism leveled at the Government and the parliamentary majority. This Government, despite the halt in external financing, not only covered the budget deficit, but also collected extra amounts that enabled to raise salaries and pensions, even if modestly. Respectively, the welfare and life of the citizens improved, even if slightly. In the absence of foreign financing, the Government managed to raise the salaries and budget revenues and this is its greatest achievement.
There are also failures, mainly in the justice sector and this problem will be transmitted to the next Parliament and Government. Even if efforts have been made during many years to reform the justice sector, not much was done and the made progress cannot ensure the people’s confidence in justice.
The debate “Year 2018: accomplishments, failures and challenges in Moldova’s European integration” forms part of the series of public debates staged by IPN News Agency and Radio Moldova as part of the project “Developing political culture through public debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
