Expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Ion Tăbârță said the future elections are vital for Moldova’s future. According to him, Moldova the past year somehow slipped to a direction that is not the happiest one. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, the political analyst said that if these elections are not free, uninfluenced and fair, Moldova’s chance of being accepted into the good world of Europe decreases and the country will rather turn into a worse version of Belarus, IPN reports.
“Many ask if there is democracy in the Republic of Moldova or not. Where is that border between a democracy and an authoritarian regime? If there is not yet an authentic authoritarian regime, there are particular elements already. If the upcoming parliamentary elections are really free and uninfluenced, are not rigged and all the parties, including the opposition and extraparliamentary ones, have equal conditions, we could speak about particular regaining of credibility by the Republic of Moldova,” stated the expert.
As to the decision concerning the provision of neutral-design license plates to Transnistrian motor vehicles, Ion Tăbârță said this is controversial and it is not yet clear what Moldova will gain. The argument invoked by Chișinău is that they think about the ordinary people and that the Transnistrian motor vehicles are somehow taken under control. On the other hand, the OSCE says this is a result as the OSCE needs a success story that was absent in the process of intermediating particular regional conflict by this organization.
The analyst noted the political power in Moldova should be re-set so that the state institutions return to a normal functioning way. “Then we could speak about particular real progress, a transparent agenda and support on the part of the Western partners because now the Republic of Moldova has particular instruments for influencing somehow Tiraspol, such as the DCFTA. The DCFTA is an important breath of fresh air for the economy of the Transnistrian region, but for now we do not know what we gain and how this is applied as we do not have a measuring instrument,” stated the expert.
