The apparent stability caused widespread apathy in society, while the theft of the US$1 billion affected also the people’s confidence in the state institutions, Valeriu Chiveri, international secretary of the European People’s Party of Moldova, said in the public debate “Specific features of presidential elections 2016: vision of parliamentary parties” of the series “What kind of President is society looking for? What society does the President need?”, held by IPN News Agency.
Valeriu Chiveri said the October 30 elections are more specific because the direct election of the President was restored by the controversial judgment of the Constitutional Court. “The presidential elections are rather particular and they influence directly the electoral speech of those who run in them,” he stated.
As to the geopolitical vote of the Moldovans, the politician said the Republic of Moldova is situated in a region where the East meets with the West and, even if some of the voters do not think from this perspective, the votes will be anyway divided between the East and the West. The vote will be geopolitical in this autumn’s elections too, possibly less in the first round, but definitely dominant in the second round of voting.
Asked about the Transnistrian dispute, Valeriu Chiveri said the Transnistrian issue does not exist in Moldova’s electoral policy or in the mind of the ordinary people. “Regretfully, this territory occupied by the Russian Federation continues to be an element of pressure on the Republic of Moldova. The fact that the people forgot that we have an occupied territory is the blame of politicians too as these didn’t refer enough to this. They often say that the unionist rhetoric scares the population of Moldovan ethnicity from the Transnistrian region and that this rhetoric should not persist in the public sphere. True or not, but the unionist movement develops, partially because the state didn’t show that it is able to solve its problems,” he stated.
According to the politician, the people’s expectations of the coming presidential elections are very great, but the powers enjoyed by the President in accordance with the Constitution are limited. However, the Head of State will be able to disseminate more concentrated messages on the internal situation.
The September 22 public debate is the 61st installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture by public debates” that are organized by IPN with the assistance of the German foundation “Hanns Seidel”.
