Youth should not be seen as mere potential voters

The youth should not be seen as mere potential voters for certain parties; they should be taken into consideration when youth policies are adopted, stated Sandu Coica, the chairman of the Moldovan National Youth Council, during a television program addressing the last week's meeting between PM-designate Vlad Filat with civil society representatives. “We don't like it when the youth are paid attention to only in election campaigns. We want the youth to feel important beyond them, as well”, said Sandu Coica. Among the topics discussed at the meeting with Vlad Filat was also the potential modification of the Youth Law, which in Sandu Coica's words, is superannuated and requiring essential change. Also, it was proposed to create mechanisms to stimulate the young people that want to start a business by facilitating their access to loans, and encourage employers through fiscal incentives to hire youths. Another issue discussed was the situation of the National Youth Center ARTICO. “This is a huge complex which took a big pot of money to renovate but which, unfortunately, today offers limited services like clay modeling and dancing classes”, said Sandu Coica. In another development, Sandu Coica stated that the youth, but also the entire society are still waiting for a clear answer as to who was responsible for the April 2009 violent events.