“The protest puts pressure on the government and on us, the political class, and this is a good thing as long as it is a sincere protest and is not captured by interest groups,” stated the first deputy chairman of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniuc.
In an interview for the portal Tribuna, the politician said this protest looks like a mixture – there are people who protest sincerely and who should not be neglected and there are several doubtful individuals who use the people and their dissatisfaction to wage their stupid wars, to create a new party and to cause a crisis in Moldova.
Vlad Plahotniuc noted that the subject of early elections is a serious one and should not be treated as a blackmailing instrument or as a method by which an interest group wants to seize power.
“I do not refer here to the protesters or all the representatives of the Platform “Dignity and Truth”. I refer to only several individuals who try to create a party and to oust the government so as to seize power by using the people’s dissatisfaction. I don’t see a problem in their intention to form a party. I think new parties should appear, but these must be created based on an honest political platform, not by exploiting the people’s emotions and by manipulation,” stated Plahotniuc.
According to him, those from the Platform “Dignity and Truth” made a big mistake when they announced that they intent to create a political party as they changed themselves the purpose of the protest. “This puts us in the situation to discuss with them with politicians already, with representatives of an initiative group for creating a political party, with future electoral opponents and this approach is different from that adopted in the discussions with civil society,” stated Plahotniuc.
As to protesters’ demands, the politician said he agrees with everything that refers to the reformation of institutions, even with some of the resignations, but this should be done only after the necessary assessments are carried out and methods by which to launch reforms are found. He does not yet support the demand that President Nicolae Timofti should resign as it is illogical also because there are only several months left until the expiration of his tenure. The demand for the Government to resign is also inappropriate as the executive should be strengthened and supported so that it can work.
Asked what will happen to Moldova next, Vlad Plahotniuc said the negotiations with the IMF should be finished as swiftly as possible, the situation at Banca de Economii should be elucidated and solutions for recovering the money and punishing those to blame should be identified. An accelerated process of reforming the institutions should be initiated, but a general Government – Parliament plan of action should exist in this regard and support for implementing it should be asked from the development partners.
