Communists dissatisfied with local election outcomes

The Party of Communists (PCRM) cannot be pleased with the results of the local elections, President Vladimir Voronin stated today, admitting that one of the causes for it was the wrong selection of candidates. “There are lots of reasons for discontent. On the one hand, PCRM got the largest number of votes in all the districts, however the general coalition of the opposition didn’t allow it to take the leading position in most of the districts”, he stated. “We know why we didn’t manage to get a result that would allow us to feel more comfortable. The inappropriate electoral offer made by our party in many cases reduced PCRM’s indicators and to some extent compromised the achievements we made over the past four years among electors”, Voronin stated. This conclusion constitutes a reason for discontent, but at the same time is an incentive to heighten requirements for the party members, Voronin underlined. Referring to the fact that in most of the country’s districts there were elected non-communist local governments, the head of state said it is absolutely unclear how the cooperation between the local and central authorities will take place from now on. “There are a multitude of projects that have been just launched. Now we see that in most of districts the local authorities have adopted an inflexible opposition to the central authorities, which means that they oppose all of these plans, an opposition directed not only towards the entire policy adopted by us, but also towards the central budget”, the head of state said. Nevertheless, says Vladimir Voronin, the central authorities cannot and will not be indifferent to what is happening in the country’s regions. Under these circumstances, the government will opt for concentrating budgetary funds to implement strategic projects for regional development, including construction of roads of national significance, modernisation of water supply systems, and creation of a modern irrigation system. There are many things to be done in the capital city, as well, says the head of state. “Of course, now we will not be able to get involved in constructions of roads in Chisinau, street lights, beautification of courtyards, we will not be able to solve the problems related to the quality of the public transport. However, the central authorities can augment budgetary financing for tuition-free education in higher education establishments in Chisinau, to renovate national hospitals in the city”, Voronin said. The leader of the Party of Communists promises that until the future election the party will honour its commitments made in 2005, despite obstacles from the local and central opposition. The opposition parties created majority alliances in 22 out of the country’s 34 district councils. The opposition also established a majority coalition in the Chisinau City Council.