“A door to Gagauz politics was opened today for the PAS. If this party manages to identify people capable of doing more than banally putting to good use the party budget, the Socialists will face a serious competition in the struggle for the sympathies of the inhabitants of Gagauzia...”
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At the decisive moment,  when the destiny of the Plahotniuc regime was decided and the new parliamentary majority started to take Moldova out of the state of “captured state”, representatives of Gagauzia were among the first to recognize the new power. Given that the police bodies at that moment were yet loyal to the old power and different consequences were possible, the step implied enough courage. The risk turned out to be justified and now those who supported the formation of the PSRM – ACUM coalition prefigure particular political prospects. The parties of the right from the new government also anticipate possibilities that cannot be overlooked in Gagauzia.

“Gagauz-Yeri is near you”

The decision to form a government coalition was taken on June 8. The next day already, on June 9, the new power was shown support by the candidate for the post of Bashkan of Gagauzia Irina Vlah, who has all the chances of being elected for another term in office.

“I fully support the efforts made by the legitimately elected President Igor Dodon and the legitimate parliamentary majority to form a new government, to maintain peace and stability in the Republic of Moldova,” stated Irina Vlah.

The same position was adopted by the close supporters of Vlah. The current ad-interim Bashkan Vadim Ceban, who had assisted Vlah for four years, made a short comment about the current situation, recognizing the legitimacy of the Sandu Government. On June 10 already, he took part in the first meeting of the new Cabinet.

The local authorities of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia also didn’t remain unvocal. The mayors and local councils made the first statements on June 10 and about 20 mayors in several days threw their support to the Sandu Government. If we believe Publika TV channel that is affiliated to the PDM, the last islands of power of the Democrats remained only in Vulcănești town and in the villages Ferapontevca and Bugeac, whose authorities signed statements in support of the Government of Pavel Filip.

According to the same source, the Democrats are also supported by the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. But there is no such information on the Assembly’s website and a group of local deputies explained that the support for the PDM was stated only by Speaker Vladimir Kyssa, who is a member of this party.

After the statements made in Gagauz-Yeri, other calls in support of the legitimacy of the coalition formed by the PSRM and ACUM appeared. This wave of messages encouraged also those who remained on waiting positions until the last moment. The Democrats who controlled any move in Moldovan politics during the past few years had to leave. The decisive role was undoubtedly played by the position of the main foreign partners of Moldova. But namely the reaction of society made the leadership of the Democratic Party see lack of support from among the people and, consequently, the inopportunity of any attempts to keep power by force. As to the Gagauz leaders, their initiative played its role. The results of these developments were favorable to them.

PDM’s leaving and election of Bashkan

The crisis of transition of power from the old administration to the new Government and the danger of dissolution of Parliament renewed the attention of the inhabitants of Gagauzia and the whole country to the political affairs. The emerging intrigue made the residents of the ATU to draw parallels with the local situation and tangentially increased interest in the Bashkan elections set for June 30.

The current campaign prior to the Bashkan elections is specific. Not many doubt it that Irina Vlah is the top favorite. The problem is that the success of Vlah will be determined not by the advantage over the closest rival, but by the voter turnout. If the turnout is lower than 50%, the elections will not be validated. The warm season and the calls boycott the elections made by the opponents in the person of Nicolai Dudoglo and local Democrats are the main challenges for her and her electoral staff.

The fall of the regime of the Democratic Party amplified the anti-PDM spirits and can favor Irina Vlah. The full liberation of the state captured by the Plahotniuc regime under the slogan “We start in Chisinau and end in Comrat” can now become a subject of her election campaign.

If Irina Vlah manages to win these elections, the start of her second political term in office will be more than successful. The profound crisis of the local Democratic opposition will facilitate the task of promoting her supporters in the local elections that will most probably be held this autumn and at the elections to the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia in a year. It is not known how successful the built vertical of power vertical will be. There will be fewer problems in the process of swiftly adopting the desired decisions. But if assessing the quality of the implemented policies, the appearance of a solid opposition would be useful for ensuring greater efficiency. This field is empty for now.

Open door for PAS and risks for PSRM

The new Prime Minister Maia Sandu has complex relations with Gagauzia. As a minister of education, she visited the ATU for many times and maintained a proper dialogue with the local competent department. But for the political leader Sandu, Gagauzia was a closed region until now. In the presidential elections, the Gagauz electors gave her about 1% of their votes. Such a result probably diminished her team’s interest in the local voters.

But the situation can change cardinally now that the PAS leader heads the Government. Maia Sandu has now the chance to dissipate the negative myth about her person and to demolish the wall of distrust that separates her form the inhabitants of the ATU. This can be done not by propaganda and campaigning, but by concrete steps that would match the expectations of the Gagauz community.

As ad-interim Bashkan Vadim Ceban stated, they want to see subjects concerning Gagauzia and its powers in the program of the new Government. Among the wishes of the Gagauz authorities are to review the structure of the decentralized services and to return the offices to particular local departments, real financial decentralization, without political criteria, and other actions that would bring palpable positive effects to the people. The longer is the list of such wishes approved by Maia Sandu, the bigger will be her party’s chances of being supported in the region.

A door to Gagauz politics was opened today for the PAS. If this party manages to identify people capable of doing more than banally putting to good use the party budget, the Socialists will face a serious competition in the struggle for the sympathies of the inhabitants of Gagauzia. This may be not so good for the Socialists, but is definitely not bad for the people of Gagauzia as this will motivate the PSRM to devote greater attention to the ATU in its actions.

Veaceslav Craciun