US diagnosis: Moldova's Communist government was not democratic. Info-Prim Neo Analysis
- 14.03.2011 05:48
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- 6 minute(s)
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Moldova's former Communist government was not a democratic one. This is a verdict which has been formulated, for the first time on international level and in a unequivocal manner, by the United States authorities and voiced by Vice President Joe Biden.
“Moldova's experience proves that political transition can be peaceful, that free and fair elections, and a genuine commitment to reform can transform democratic values into reality”, stated US Vice President Joe Biden during his speech at the National Opera Square in Chisinau. This was by no means a simple connective sentence, because no one can imagine that someone at such a level can make incidental statements. Even more, this statement is crucial to fully understanding why Joe Biden came to Chisinau.
Following the syllogism of the statement, one can deduct the following message of the United States government: a. If Moldova makes a peaceful transition towards democracy, which America seeks to support, b. it means that there was no democracy until this point. c. During its almost twenty years of independence, Moldova had only two occasions to make major political transitions: in 1991 when Moldova broke away from the USSR, and in 2009/2010 when the Communist government was ousted. d. Obviously Joe Biden wasn't speaking about the 1991 transition and so America was referring to the end of the Communist government when saying “peaceful transition” towards democracy. Also, it is more likely that the United States was referring to the November 2010 elections and not to the July 2009 elections, those being triggered by the violent events of April 2009.
The classification of Moldova's Communist government as non-democratic appears even more categorical and clear since it was formulated against the background of turmoil in North Africa and Middle East, where popular protests erupted against dictatorial and non-democratic regimes.
This critical assessment was clearly not an improvisation, but rather a piece of 'homework' which may have some goals to pursue.
On February 18, one month before Joe Biden's visit to Chisinau, the Moldovan Party of Communists issued a press release to inform about the meeting held by its leader Vladimir Voronin with U.S. Ambassador Asif Chaudhry. At the very end of the press release, one could remark the key sentence of that paper, which shed light on the true reason of the meeting: “Also, the interlocutors discussed in brief about the visit of United States Vice President Joe Biden to Moldova slated for early March”.
Most likely that Vladimir Voronin asked for a separate meeting with the American vice president, which he needed in order to confirm the weight of his party and his own importance in light of the Moldovan political feuds. Obtaining such a meeting was supposed to be a rather easy mission, bearing in mind that the Communist Party has constantly had the best electoral scores in the last decade, having the most numerous parliamentary faction, and all the high-ranking European officials visiting Moldova have found it necessary to meet with the leader of the powerful, currently opposition party. In all probability, the American ambassador answered diplomatically that it was for the White House to decide. And the White House said no. The reason can be traced in the “peaceful transition” statement.
This happened in spite of the fact that Joe Biden's visit had been planned well in advance and he found time to meet with the opposition in Russia (at the potential cost of irritating the Kremlin and failing his mission in Moscow, that of preparing President Barack Obama's subsequent visit).
After Biden's visit, Ambassador Chaudhry confirmed, indirectly, this attitude in relation to the Communist Party. “The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Moldova (...) has truly continued to strengthen. Under the present government it has gone to a much higher level. You can't get any higher than the Vice President, except for the President”, Ambassador Chaudhry told Radio Moldova in an interview.
So far political actors and commentators have missed this issue, not yet the Communist leaders. This explains the brusque and disproportionate reaction of the Communist top members to the visit of the American vice president, resembling the Rat's criticism at the Elephant's parade in Aesop's fable.
I don't know what the American authorities know about the Communist government so as to pronounce such a verdict. But they certainly know more than us the citizens of this country about the deficiencies in areas of freedom of the press, freedom of expression and assembly, of judicial independence etc. We can guess that the April 2009 events acted as the last drop in America's decision-making cup. The special information that the Americans know may be related, for example, to the real extents of corruption and human trafficking in Moldova. Anyway, the dice have been cast...
It seems that Joe Biden's visit put the last nail in the Communist Party's 'governmental coffin'. Maybe not yet into the political one as well, because the Communists will remain a large and popular party within Moldova (although increasingly less so, as its demography-dependent electorate is shrinking), and at the same time a party of local importance, 'landlocked' and without 'international recognition'. From this point, the Communists will not be able to come back to government, in the near future or ever, without any other party's support, as it was the case until recently. But in order to be part of a potential alliance, they will have to adopt a different political conduct and offer guarantees for a more democratic style of governance.
Otherwise, the headline could transform to sound as follows: “Communist government was not democratic... {and cannot return}”
[Valeriu Vasilică, Info-Prim Neo]
