Some politicians do not know or do not want to play a political match and sometimes resort to manipulation in order to achieve their goal. The mutual accusations made by the candidates for President Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu in the first TV debate last week were analyzed within the Sic! project. The first assertion classed by the authors as false is that of Igor Dodon, who said the reforms promoted when Maia Sandu was minister of education led to 400 cases of suicide among children, IPN reports.
The authors of the article say Igor Dodon’s assertion is false and this invokes statistics that are open to question. “Maia Sandu was named minister in July 2012, while the new Baccalaureate rules were introduced in the session of 2013. Between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2015, there were recorded 17 cases of suicide and 110 suicide attempts among minors aged 17 and 18. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 104 cases of death as a result of suicide in the 15-19 age bracket occurred in 2011-2015,” says the sic! article.
According to the authors of the article, the major problem resides not in the fact that Igor Dodon manipulates figures, but rather in the fact that there is no causal connection between the education reform and the number of suicides among minors.
Also, in the debate Maia Sandu said that when Igor Dodon served as minister of economy, the number of working people decreased by 130,000, while the closing of schools is the result of the policies pursued by the Ministry of Economy. The article authors say the figure of 130,000 uttered by Maia Sandu matches the data of the National Bureau of Statistics and can be considered correct.
The trips by plane were another subject discussed in the debate. Maia Sandu said she possesses documents showing that Igor Dodona flied for four-five times, including to Odessa and Geneva, by a private plane of Vlad Plahotniuc, and the flights would have cost US$200,000. Igor Dodon confirmed that he travelled at the invitation of friends, who covered the cost of the trip.
Maia Sandu also referred to revelations made by RISE Moldova in an investigation that is based on data provided by the border police of Ukraine. RISE Moldova tracked the private flights of Igor Dodon in 2010, where the Odessa International Airport was the departure and arrival point. From here, Igor Dodon flied for four times by a plane of Nobil Air airline that belongs to Vlad Plahotniuc. Consequently, Igor Dodon lied when, in the debates on ProTV channel, he said that he flied by Vlad Plahotniuc’s private plane only once.
In response, Igor Dodon said Maia Sandu flied to Doha together with Vlad Filat and the travel expenses of €65,000 were paid in cash. The authors of the sic! article say there was indeed a Government Decision showing that a delegation consisting of 14 persons travelled to Doha. The delegation included Vlad Filat, Iurie Leanca, Maia Sandu, and Marcel Raducan. Therefore, Maia Sandu’s assertion that the costs were covered by the Government is true, while that of Igor Dodon is false.
