Voters are more conscious than politicians think, Viorel Cibotaru

The voters are much more conscious than the politicians think. The expectations are still very high. The voters are not disappointed with the political class as they gave it one more chance to achieve the results wanted by the people, the head of the European Institute for Political Studies of Moldova Viorel Cibotaru stated for Info-Prim Neo. The expert said that most of the votes were in favor of large parties whose programs are much the same as regards European integration, the fight against poverty and economic policies. The people preferred to vote for the persons and parties that they know. Some of them chose the lesser of two evils. This is how the expert explained the failure of 35 election runners to enter Parliament. “The parties that did not enter the legislature also include important figures who represent several sections of the population or groups of interest with certain views. They lost the elections not because they were weaker or because they do not deserve being present in the legislative body, but because the case stood like that. The people chose persons who asserted themselves to a certain extent. That's why such parties as the European Action Movement and the Social Democratic Party failed,” Viorel Cibotaru said. The expert stressed that among the contenders that did not pass the election threshold were parties that appeared or were reanimated overnight. “There were also adventuresome parties. Some of the parties wanted to promote their image, while others were paid to hinder the actions of other parties. It happened as this July, when the dissatisfaction with the parties of the ruling alliance and the inaction of the former governing party led to political activism,” Cibotaru stated. Speaking about the NGO sector, the expert said civil society worked very professionally, but there were certain conflicts of interests within the NGOs that monitored the coverage of the campaign by the mass media. There were organizations that promoted political partisanship and this is regrettable, he said. Viorel Cibotaru also said that the Church did right. An attempt was made to involve the Metropolitan Church in the campaign, but it was withdrawn on time.