The political speech in the election campaign prior to the local elections should be built on specific subjects. This political speech doesn’t yet meet the expectations of people. The contenders for the post of local councilor should tell the people about the real problems faced by the localities, expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul” Veaceslav Ioniță stated in a public debate hosted by IPN.

“We, “Viitorul” Institute, in the election campaign went to six localities to mobilize the people to the polls not for a political party, but in general. I then told the people several things that I want to repeat now and it’s a pity that they were absent from the public speech. We asked the people in the village: Do you realize that the council you elect in a small village will decide the fate of a sum of 50 million lei during the next four years? So, the four-year budget of a small village will be of 50 million lei. In the municipality, in a larger district center, the budget for the next four years will be 500 million lei cumulatively,” stated Veaceslav Ioniță.

He noted that the local authorities will now have more financial power as a result of the central administration’s decisions concerning the reallocation of particular funds to the local budgets. “This means that the mayor’s offices will be able to decide whether to ‘swallow’ the money or to invest in roads,” stated the expert, noting that a real agenda with real problems that are to be solved at the local level is needed.

“We already tried to identify the real problems and what the people want in reality. 50% of the things wanted by the people at the local level refer to: 1. Repair of secondary roads, not main arteries, as these were already repaired in most of the villages. The people want secondary roads to the church, to the cemetery, to the school. 2. Sewerage system. The people ultimately realized how comfortable life looks like in villages. 3. Waste management – waste and waste dump,” said Veaceslav Ioniță.

The expert believes that the election contenders who really want to do something for the benefit of the locality should address the aforementioned issues if they are elected mayor or councilor. “They should be receptive to the real needs of the people and should avoid populism and should center on a concrete development plan. The problems that really interest the people should be discussed. I think the quality of the speech will improve from election to election,” noted Veaceslav Ioniță.

The public debate entitled “Quality of political class and portrait of voter at local level” was staged by IPN as part of the project “Stimulation of discussion in the mass media about traditional particularities of local elections and the need for Europeanization” that is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova.