Fifteen political parties entered the race for the parliamentary elections of February 24. Each of these formulated electoral programs, slogans and messages by which they try to persuade the voters that they deserve entering Parliament and gaining as many seats of MP as possible. IPN News Agency, together with political expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Veaceslav Berbeca, carried out an analysts of the main messages of the electoral offer of each party.

Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM)

The Democratic Party built its electoral offer on the accomplishments achieved after 2016, without reminding that it has been in power since 2009, as part of different alliances. The slogan “Deeds, not words” refers to the ruling party’s accomplishments of the past three years and this promises to continue such initiatives. The second slogan that is disseminated intensely is “PDM for Moldova”.

The slogan “Deeds, not words” suggests that the Democrats keep their word and do not resort to populism. The PDM carries out a campaign through a number of localities of Moldova. A series of social programs are emphasized – they raised the pensions and salaries and offered assistance to persons with very low incomes. They place emphasis on the social aspect that is evidently populistic, but this way they also try to show that they somehow thought about the people’s problems and deserve to be elected.

There is one more interesting aspect to which the PDM resorted – intense promotion of the consultative referendum that will be held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections. This referendum ultimately does not have legal effects, but placing posters that call on the people to take part in the referendum and say if they want the number of MPs to be reduced from 101 to 61 is a special electoral technology aimed at persuading the electors to vote for the Democratic Party. On a lot of billboards and in videos, the idea centers on the number of MPs, not on the political color of these.

“The PDM by this initiative meets some of the people’s demands as the citizens of the Republic of Moldova consider the whole blame is borne by MPs for all the wrongdoings in the state. The idea that the MPs are too many in number and the costs for maintaining these should be reduced is a wish and the Democratic Party satisfies this”.

Electoral bloc “ACUM Platform DA and PAS”

The two key opposition parties of the right, the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” and the Party “Action and Solidarity”, which formed the electoral bloc “ACUM Platform DA and PAS”, made it clear that the change in the country should be made “now”, which is on February 24, by voting for this bloc.

“The two opposition parties have a very critical approach to the current government. If we examine their messages, we see that they lay emphasis on the fact that the Republic of Moldova should be reformed, especially its justice sector that is the biggest problem of the country – corrupt judges and prosecutors. The theft of the US$ 1 billion is a big problem that is accentuated. In general, they aim to do justice and free the country from the existing problems – dependent justice and corruption”.

Secondly, the bloc ACUM DA PAS places emphasis on freedoms, on the fact that the rights of the citizens are not respected. In this case, reference is made to the fact that Moldova has dropped in all kinds of international rankings concerning the quality of democracy. It also focuses on the creation of the conditions needed for the people to remain in Moldova, to build a future here, but this will happen only if the necessary change is made. “They are the most vocal critics of the current government who have very big chances of gaining am important number of MPs in next Parliament after the February 24 elections”.

Party of Communists of Moldova (PCRM)

The PCRM has been in opposition since 2009 and this fact damaged a lot its image and capacities as the party’s ranks contracted a lot. This is also seen in the election campaign – they are not very vocal and not many obscures of their or posters are seen. The people can find key information about it by taking part in events, debates and on their official website and on social networking sites. What do they do? They criticize the current power and make it clear that Moldova backslid a lot since 2009, after the democratic parties took over.

The PCRM’s slogan is “Communists in power – order in the country”. The order, for example, from their viewpoint can be restored if the PCRM returns to power. The Communists aim many attacks at the Socialists and this is interesting. This is evident because the PSRM is the party that took the place of the PCRM. This party attracted the PCRM’s voters and the attacks are somehow explainable.

Party of Socialists of Moldova (PSRM)

The PSRM is the main opposition party of the left. The party got the largest number of seats in Parliament at the previous elections, but remained in the opposition after the parties of the right allied. By the way in which it conducts its election campaign, it is seen that the party has a good financial situation and a large team. It distributes a lot of newspapers, brochures, is active in localities, including in Chisinau, and has posters everywhere.

The slogan with which the Socialists address the people says that their time came. They note many parties had been in power and time came for the PSRM to show that it can bring about changes. “The Socialists focus a lot on their relationship with the Russian Federation. Practically, if they could, they would bring the Russian leader Vladimir Putin to have pictures with each candidate of theirs in single-member constituencies. They say Russia should be the most important partner of the Republic of Moldova”.

They criticize the government, but not very harshly. They also very harshly criticize the Euro-unionist parties, as they call them. For them, Euro-unionism is everything the right means. Following this path, the criticism of Euro-unionism is one of their strategies for obtaining votes. “We know that there is an important section of the population that is concerned a lot about any idea related to the integration into the EU or the union with Romania. I heard that in some localities the Socialists tell the speakers of other languages than Romanian that if the PDM or the bloc ACUM comes to power, the union will take place. This is a kind of scarecrow by which they are trying to gain votes”.

The PSRM has a socially inclined populist program – free medicine, free schools, free education. This is not something new, but they try to secure votes. “On the other hand, this is contrary to the standards – you will see nowhere in Europe a socially inclined party of the left. In a country with traditions, you will not see a party of the left that would promote the traditional family and the big role played by the church in society, as the Socialists do and create confusion.” In general, the electoral programs of most of the parties in the Republic of Moldova consist rather of particular ideas that the citizens support, but these are not doctrinaire ideas. The parties try to react to the people’s demands and to comply.

“The Socialists are in the opposition, but it is a constructive opposition that ultimately supported a lot the current government”.

Shor Party

Being a capitalist party, the Shor Party has a lot of social accents in its program. It wants to build kolkhozes, but this is not typical of a citizen who has capital. The party’s slogan is “Change for Moldova”. In general, the messages addressed to the population are similar to the Democratic Party’s messages, like “Deeds, not words”. The party also has the slogan “Today in Orhei, tomorrow all over the country” by which it tries to persuade its voters that the Shor Party’s accomplishments in Orhei (infrastructure, social programs) will be multiplied all over Moldova if they come to power.

“In their messages, the supporters of the Shor Party criticize more the right, but started lately to also criticize the Socialists. Even if they hadn’t really criticized the PSRM and Igor Dodon, the Shor Party actually plays in the Socialists’ court. Those who will vote for Shor are those who would have voted for the PSRM. These statements are made in a move to undermine the authority of Igor Dodon, who enjoys rather big confidence among the citizens, so as to diminish his rating and political image. The party banks on the fact that those who will eventually become disappointed in the PSRM, will vote either for the PDM or for the Shor Party.

Politic Party Antimafie Movement

Antimafie is a movement that evidently does not have much money. It is not very vocal in billboards and leaflets, but is vocal by all kinds of statements and different electronic resources. A message of Antimafiei is “It’s time to say NO” and “NO” refers to the current government. The criticism is leveled at the ruling party and suggests that the current government supports the interests of oligarchic groups. But it also stages attacks against the right. “There are some who aim arrows at everyone”.

Political Party “Our Party” (PPPN)

The PPPN is considerably less visible in the current elections than in the previous parliamentary elections. It is seen that the leader of the party Renato Usatyi is abroad and wasn’t preoccupied with the party. He was probably somehow affected by the removal from the race in the parliamentary elections of 2014. “This party is not really active in terms of participation in elections. The party’s central idea is that “we no longer have time to endure”, which is we should change the current state of affairs. The message is against the current government that this party considers the greatest enemy. According to the PPPN, the ruling party placed most of the obstacles in its path – the Democratic Party uses all the tools to destroy the PPPN, inclusive Renato Usatyi. The party is not very active in the public sphere and is more active on social networking sites”.

National Liberal Party (PNL)

The PNL is one of the biggest enigmas in the public and political spheres of Moldova. It runs in all the elections, but has very modest results. The party’s main idea is that it pleads for unionism and Europeanism and sometimes throws arrows at the main opposition – the bloc ACUM, but in a camouflaged way. The PNL’s slogan for the current parliamentary elections is “UNION not AGONY!”. “This is actually a one-player party. Besides the party’s president, Vitalia Pavlichenko, there are several more members who make statements in the public sphere, but in general this party is not very present. The program was the same since 2014 and offers nothing new to the voters”.

Political Party “People’s Will”

This party is practically absent from the public sphere. “We saw parts of their campaign program only recently. It is a very small party that appeared recently. It pleads for reforms and harshly criticizes the current government”.

Party of Regions of Moldova

The Party of Regions was founded by ex-governor of ATU Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal. Now this party is headed by Alexandr Kalinin, who is considered a kind of leader of the Moldovans who work in Russia. The party is not present much in the public sphere through posters, but publishes many materials on its website. “It is interesting that the largest part of articles on this party’s website criticize the Socialists. This shows that it wants to attract votes from the supporters of the PSRM by criticizing this party. It criticizes a lot Igor Dodon’s initiatives and makes reference to jokes about the Head of State that were recently disseminated by Russian TV channels”.

Political Party “Democracy at Home”.

The party has a pro-European and pro-unionist message, but is very small and is not present much in the public sphere. It is present and vocal only where it is cheaper – social networking sites and some of the TV channels that offer promotion space. One of the party’s slogans is that a lot of work should be done to ensure Moldova’s reunification with Romania”. “Democracy at Home” criticizes the current government for the existing economic and political problems.

Professionals’ Movement “Speranța-Nadejda”

“Speranța-Nadejda” is a sociopolitical movement founded in 1997. It took part in the parliamentary elections of 1998 and 2001 and in the local elections of 1999 and 2003. It held several seats of MP after the elections of 2001 and formed part of the Braghiș Alliance. In 2017, the movement had only one member. On October 9, 2018, Andrei Donică was elected the new president. “No matter how hard I tried to find out more about this party, I found nothing. By its symbol “Stop genocide”, the party suggests that what is happening in Moldova represents genocide – poverty, massive migration and mainly elderly population because the younger people live owing to the social, economic and political problems. It tries to embrace everything the citizens of the Republic of Moldova like to hear”.

Political Party “Patria” “Homeland”

There is not much information about this party. After the elections of 2014, almost nothing was heard about this party. This is a party of the left, nostalgic for the values that existed in the Soviet Union. It was earlier rumored that this party could form an electoral bloc with the PPPN, but the rumors were denied. “They are not present and are not vocal”.

Ecologist Green Party (PVE)

The PVE is a party with a left message that pleads for protecting the environment. It is a party oriented to the European Union and pays attention to education, poverty and environmental protection. “It is a small party that does not have developed local bodies and does not have financial resources and this is obvious”.

Liberal Party (PL)

The Liberal Party decided to run in the current elections even if its rating in public opinion polls decreased considerable the past few years. The Liberals appeared in the public sphere with statements that they would like to join the electoral bloc ACUM in the parliamentary elections, but ultimately decided to run alone.

“It was once an important party. I understood it wanted to run in elections together with the bloc ACUM, but now asserts that it wouldn’t have tried if it had known what’s going on in that bloc. It entered the electoral race symbolically, on the bank of the Prut. Their main message is pro-unionist. The party criticizes a lot the Party of Socialists, the current power and the bloc ACUM. I do not see any use in this party’s participation in elections compared with other parties. There are small parties that run probably because they have particular commitments, are spoilers or pursue other interests, but the PL, by its participation, will get a sentence as if it wins a small percentage of votes in the February 24 elections, it will show once again that it is a declining party. The impression is that the PL’s participation in elections is a whim and was determined by the feeling of frustration of the Liberal leader Dorin Chirtoacă”.

The parliamentary elections scheduled for February 24 will take place for the first time based on the mixed electoral system under which half of the MPs will be elected according to party lists, while the other half directly by voters in the 51 single-member constituencies established in the country and abroad, by one in each constituency.

Anastasia Rusu, IPN