The rise in salaries, balanced external policy, the country’s reunification and switchover to a presidential republic are among the main commitments that the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) undertook to fulfil as part of the next Parliament. These were specified in a resolution adopted in a protest against the current government mounted by members and sympathizers of the PSRM in the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau on November 18.
By the same resolution, the Socialists undertook to increase the average salary to €600 and pensions to €300, to lower the retirement age and to index pensions at least two times a year. The document says the Moldovan veterans will enjoy free medical assistance. The restoration of the strategic partnership with the Russian Federation at all levels and obtaining of the status of fully-fledged member of the Eurasian Economic Union and the ensuring of mutually advantageous cooperation with the European Union are also among the PSRM’s objectives. The Socialists said they will now allow Moldova to join NATO and will close the NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau, will ban unionist parties and movements, will defend orthodoxy, religion and will eliminate the anti-family ideology.
The IPN Experts remained impressed by the event that was very well, even excellently organized by the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova in Chisinau on November 18. Owing to the good organization, it was possible to precisely determine the number of participants. The drones used by the organizers were very useful. These enabled to follow in real time how the two columns of supporters set off from the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and, respectively, from the Circus, towards the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau. Both of the columns consisted of 15 groups and each group had by a supervisor who made sure the unit kept its rectangular form of 10-12 rows of about 30 persons in each row. Respectively, we can calculate that the march involved 9,000 – 10,000 protesters, not 12,000 or 13,000 as the police and the organizers said.
Politologist Dionis Cenușa wrote an article entitled “Warning about suspension of visa-free regime for Moldova and synergy of EU criticism”, where he says the reintroduction of visas for Moldova depends both on political and technical parameters given that the European Commission in December 2017 ascertained that Moldova continues to implement the criteria for benefitting from a visa-free regime. However, illegal migration, anti-corruption policies and fighting of money laundering were signaled as problems where the Moldovan authorities should demonstrate progress. This thing generates at least two questions. Even if the reintroduction of visas is initiated, this will happen gradually and implies the taking of a decision by most of the EU states. Moreover, the compulsoriness of visas will be imposed on specific categories of citizens, not on the entire population that benefits from the visa-free travel in the EU, concluded the politologist.
The situation in the small business sector is still precarious. The sellers just want to work legally and to face no obstacles on the part of the authorities.
Switching over to independent activity from patent-based entrepreneurial activity is detrimental to the traders and the state. The payments made by patent holders to the state budget are now 80 times higher than the transfers made by those who work independently, said representatives of the Small Business Association.
Experts of the Movement “Professionalism and Responsibility for the People” (PRO) discovered that the contract clauses proposed by microfinance companies are abusive. The interest is exaggerated and there are taxes afferent to the contract, leasing commissions and other payments. The percentage on the microloans raised from microfinance companies reaches over 1,000%. “Any continuation of the situation leads to the liquidation of the small and medium-sized businesses sector, impoverishment of the population and driving of the people away,” stated the Movement’s leader Gheorghe Costandachi.
Comparing the national legislation in the field with the European one, Alexandru Gamanji, expert of the PRO Movement, said he noticed serious drawbacks. Legal provisions are applied formally and the real owners of microfinance companies and the origin of the financial resources are thus not known. In most of the EU member states, they cap the interest rate in this field and such a practice should be implemented in Moldova as well.
Details on IPN!
