Expert Igor Boțan said he was surprised by Maia Sandu’s decision not to take part in electoral debates. According to him, the lack of debates is a big disadvantage for the candidates as this way they will be unable to show their charisma, the possibility of reacting swiftly and, in general, the possibility of impressing the voters by being confident in what they say and showing that they can refute the opponent’s arguments.
In IPN’s public debate “Election campaign in first and second rounds: affinities, differences, effects”, the expert said Maia Sandu does not want to take part in debates because she disrespects her opponent, but this is a mistake and the impact of this decision on the voters will be yet seen. It seems that Maia Sandu is absent in the campaign prior to the runoff, while Igor Dodon is extremely active. This points to the quality of the teams and experts advising them. The debates were the best solution for Maia Sandu as in these she could have demanded that Igor Dodon should tell how many promises of his program of 2016 have been fulfilled. Also, the lies disseminated about Maia Sandu could have been combated there.
Igor Boțan also said that the ratio of real things promised by the candidates and the deviations from the duties of state institutions is ”amazing”. Approximately 20-25% of the promises are within the President’s remit, while the rest are said to play with voters’ feelings. Practically all the candidates before the first round of voting made promises that do not match the President’s duties and this is misleading of voters. The analysis of the electoral promises of parties, candidates during the last ten years shows the promises are at most 30% delivered.
According to the expert, Maia Sandu is not as present in the media as Igor Dodon is and this gap can be diminished through social networking sites, but cannot be fully removed. “In Moldova, there are different categories of voters for whom the messages should be specific, differentiated. Through social networking sites, the people more or less decided who to vote for, as the diaspora did. In the country, the most important voters are those with a lower level of education, who can be easily influenced and manipulated. The struggle is now for these voters who should be met face to face so as to make an impression on them,” he stated.
In another development, Igor Boțan said the phenomenon of trolls is known in Moldova and has been used in election campaigns since 2010. The authorities do not fight this phenomenon. The trolls distort the truth. There were online portals that worked for Vlad Plahotniuc and now work for Igor Dodon. Their owners and their resources are not known. They should be held accountable for the dissemination of false information when this is discovered.
According to Igor Boțan, the good side is that the winner is not known and the people should realize that the one who will better use the resources and possibilities will win and, as they say, we will have the government we deserve.
The debate “Election campaign in first and second rounds: affinities, differences, effects” was the ninth installment of the series “We and the President: who elects who, who represents who” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
