The Democrats have no favorable candidate in the runoffs after Silvia Radu remained outside the electoral competition, expert in political sciences Dionis Cenusa says in an analysis article for IPN Agency.
The politologist reminded that the Democrats refused to publicly support the candidates in the runoffs even if they actively supported the idea of fielding a common candidate of the pro-European forces before the first round of voting.
According to Dionis Cenusa, from tactical viewpoint, any of the two candidates can be promoted by the Democrats.
So, if the mayoralty is won by the Socialists, the geopolitical rhetoric for the parliamentary election of 2018 will be stimulated. When the voters are hysterical due to the political expansion of the pro-Russian forces, the Democrats can easier attract the undecided pro-European voters and dilute the criticism of the extraparliamentary opposition.
At the same time, Ceban’s victory can become a useful argument in the government’s attempts to soften the harsh position of the European institutions and to promote the necessity of a coalition of the pro-European forces so as to save the European course.
If the post of mayor of Chisinau is won by Andrei Nastase, the Democrats could also benefit.
First of all, this way one of the leaders of the extraparliamentary opposition will be preoccupied with the problems of the capital city, which will necessitate the cumulated attention and efforts of the party and the media sources that support Andrei Nastase.
Secondly, if Nastase does not cope with the affairs in the capital city, this will become the target of criticism and an eventual source of voter disappointment in the opposition’s capacities before the parliamentary elections of the end of 2018.
Last but not least, if Nastase holds the mayoralty this fact could be used to encourage the Democrats’ approach to promote the necessity of cooperation between the pro-European forces.
Even if both of the scenarios could be exploited by the Democrats, for now the press affiliated to this party presents Andrei Nastase in a negative light. This can reveal the Democratic Party’s interest in having the Socialist candidate as mayor in Chisinau, not Andrei Nastase, concluded the expert.
