The rankings of the most influential politicians in Moldova – TOP 50 – for this January is opened by Prime Minister Vlad Filat, president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova. He is followed by his alliance colleague Marian Lupu, Moldova’s Acting President and leader of the Democratic Party. The third position is taken by the Liberal-Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, Info-Prim Neo reports The rankings were compiled by the Strategic Researches and Political Consultancy Center “Politicon”. Twenty-five political experts, analysts and sociologists give grades of 0 to 10 to politicians every month. In a news conference on Thursday, the Center’s head Anatol Taranu said most of the politicians preserve their positions in the rankings and this shows that the experts uniformly appraise them. However, the points scored by the politicians are different. In January for example, there was a slight difference in the score for the first and second places. Vlad Filat scored 239 points, while Marian Lupu – 223.5. “Lupu is right behind Filat. Competition becomes stiffer,” said Anatol Taranu. The president of the Communists Party Vladimir Voronin ranks fourth with 194.4 points, up three spots compared with the December rankings. According to Anatol Taranu, the PCRM plays an important role as regards the election of the head of state, even if it failed to form a ruling alliance. Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca comes fifth with 192.4 points. He climbed one place compared with the previous rankings. The First Deputy Head of Parliament Vlad Plahotniuc ranks sixth with 188.3 points. He is followed by Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase with 187.5 points The leader of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu is the eighth with 185 points. He slipped six positions. The chairman of the PLDM’s parliamentary group Mihai Godea takes the ninth place with 181.7 points. The tenth is the president of honor of the PDM Dumitru Diacov, who scored 178 points. Among the politicians included in the rankings are also the Governor of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal (13th), the Mayor of Comrat Nicolai Dudoglo (48th), and the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov (18th). The 50 politicians were selected out of 100 participants. The list is updated every month. The last ten persons who score the lowest number of points are replaced.