Press release

about the organization of the debate “The political message of the Committee for Defense of the Constitution and Democracy. Culture of promoting: for and against” within the project “Developing political culture in public debates. Series of public debates held by Info-Prim Neo news agency in its conference room”, supported by German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”

The debate on Fenruary 14, 2012 was preceded by ample preparations, such as identifying the highly actual and useful topic, relevant participants, preparing the agenda, the invitation text, etc. For the event to be successful, it was crucial to gather representatives of all three parts involved in the conflict: the protesting organization, public authorities and TV channels, and influential experts. The Agency chose the gradual way of submitting invitations. First, it obtained the participation agreement from two experts and the moderator, so as to provide a qualified and credible framework, then from chairman of the Constitutional Court and the leader of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction, then from the heads of two influential TV channels and finally from the leaders of the Committee for Defense of the Constitution and Democracy. Any refusal at any stage would have left two options: finding other guests of similar caliber or changing the topic. All of the invited people repeatedly confirmed their participation However, both of the important representatives of central authorities failed to show up.

The spirit of the debate, and that of the whole Moldovan political class, was summed up in the material published by the Agency “Misunderstandings between authorities and protesters are generated by lack of communication, debates” (check the English version of the site www.info-prim.md http://www.info-prim.md/?a=10&nD=2012/02/14&ay=44477).

Because of the abovementioned unbalance, the messages launched during the debate slightly inclined towards one of the involved parts, but thanks to the performance of the moderator and the experts, the discussions were kept calmly.

Regretting the behavior of one the parts involved in the conflict, we draw the conclusion that this behavior only proves again the need for the project implemented by the Agency, designed to get the Moldovan politicians and society as a whole used to the civilized political relations, meaning first of all civilized meetings and communication.

During the debate, the Agency provide proper work conditions to the press representatives, filmed and broadcasted online the debate on the Internet, posted the video recordings on the site archive of www.info-prim.md, and assured the continuation of communication during the “pacifying” coffee break.

Info-Prim Neo

February 16, 2012