The National Movement for People staged a protest in the center of Chisinau on Sunday to demand that the Government should fully pay the bills for the winter season. The participants, especially members and sympathizers of the Shor Party, expressed their dissatisfaction with the alleged abuses committed by the current government, chanting “Shame” and “We are the People”. According to the police, the protesters tried to break the police cordon so as to change the venue. Even if the protest was to be mounted in front of the Parliament Building, the protesters wanted to go to the Government Building to leave a resolution there, IPN reports.

Shor Party deputy chairwoman Marina Tauber, a member of the National Movement for People, said the protesters were prevented from having a peaceful rally as the access to the protest venue was barred and the police committed a number of abuses against the demonstrators. “The head of the General Police Inspectorate Viorel Cernăuțeanu hit me too. On Monday, I will file a complaint about this,” stated Marina Tauber.

Movement member Mihai Petrache, chairman of the Centrist Union of Moldova, said that a competent Government could have solved the problem of heat and gas bills long ago and the people wouldn’t have had to travel hundreds of kilometers to Chisinau. “The Government prefers the citizens to kneel down in front of it and something like this is not appropriate,” stated Mihai Petrache.

The protesters adopted a resolution saying the government is given 24 hours to provide a response to the citizens’ requests to fully pay the bills during the cold period of the year. If a response is not provided by 1pm on March 13, “the people reserve the right to take all the necessary measures to oblige the country’s administrant to obey the citizens’ will”.

“We ascertained that the Republic of Moldova is going through the most profound socioeconomic crisis since the proclaiming of its independence. The wave of price rises affected all the social categories and seriously hit the whole economic sector of the country. The charges for all the energy resources constantly hit record highs and became an impossible burden for the citizens. Inflation reached highs similar to those of 1999 and the Republic of Moldova became a champion in terms of price increases in Europe,” runs the document.

The resolution also says that heat and electricity charges grew several times and the largest part of the population is now fully unable to pay the bills.

At the end of the protest, the MPs of the Shor Party were allowed to go to the Government Building to transmit the adopted resolution.

The Party “We Build Europe at Home” and the public association “People’s Shield” gave up taking part in the protest and called on the people to follow their example. It happened after GPI head Viorel Cernăuțeanu in a press briefing informed that an operation planned to cause public disorder and destabilization during the protest was thwarted.

After the protest staged in central Chisinau, Minister of Home Affairs Ana Revenco came with a message about “the turbulence that endangers democracy in the Republic of Moldova”. The official noted that those who break the law on any pretext should expect to be held accountable. The persons who used violence against civilians who were in the street on Sunday and against the law enforcement agencies are being investigated. ‘The Ministry I manage maintains stability in the country and will not allow destabilization to be caused to endanger our people’s safety,” said Ana Revenco.

The General Police Inspectorate said it received 6 reports of offenses and incidents during the protest, and 77 participants, including 24 minors, were processed. Four false bomb threats were made by one and the same person. The police consider these actions form part of the destabilization measures. A false bomb threat was made against the Chisinau International Airport. The personnel and travellers were evacuated from the airport terminal and the check-in was suspended. The airport resumed work following examinations. A criminal case was started over this incident.