Ex-Premier Vlad Filat said his freeing from detention is his priority. He does not believe he will again become involved in politics, at least directly, but could provide political consultancy to those interested. He noted the biggest mistake was made in 2013, when he didn’t consider the holding of snap elections as a solution to the conflict known as the Domnească Forest, IPN reports, quoting Filat’s first prison interview.
In the second part of the interview broadcast by TV8 channel on July 15, Vlad Filat said that he became different while in jail and his thoughts now cover long-term periods. The next steps he will take when he is set free will be aimed at rehabilitating himself. “The name I bear is not only my name. It is the name of my children and of my parents. My subsequent steps will be definitely based on a different approach,” stated the ex-Prime Minister.
Asked if politics is among the things he would like to do in the future, Vlad Filat said he does not think so. “Directly no, but I would like my experience and knowledge in this field to be useful to those interested. I could provide political consultancy if someone wants to, but this will not be something imposed. I repeat that I will see what I will focus on, but my approach will be definitely different,” he noted.
He added snap parliamentary elections should have been held in 2013 as these would have been the expression of the people’s will. “If the Communists had gained a majority of seats, we would have been in the opposition. The Communists would have been mandated by the people to govern and we would have offered them the power. For sure the Liberals and the Democrats wouldn’t have entered Parliament after the eventual snap elections of 2013,” said the former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The interview was conducted in Penitentiary No. 13 where the former Prime Minister is serving his nine-year sentence for passive corruption and influence peddling. He is also investigated in another case for considerable money laundering. Vlad Filat pleads not guilty, saying his case is political in character.
