The oligarchization of Moldovan politics is one of the biggest problems of Moldova, Jerzy Pomianowski, the executive director of the European Endowment for Democracy, said in an interview for IPN.
“I remember that when one of the two oligarchs put the other one in the prison I twitted that “What is bigger danger to democracy in Moldova than two oligarchs running the country?”. And the answer is “It’s one oligarch running the country!” said the European expert.
Among the factors that coincided with the strengthening of oligarchs, Jerzy Pomianowski noted the EU’s indulgence. “In the case of Moldova, we have an international factor that is represented by the support from Europe. It was provided on the basis of certain declarations coming from a group of pro-European political parties, which were run by two oligarchs – Mr. Filat and Mr. Plahotniuc. […]Because of the lack of attention, Europe didn’t see the real situation during many years. It didn’t see that the declarations and the actual deeds are not exactly the same. Therefore, the pro-European reformers are not necessarily always reformist,” he stated.
The executive director of the European Endowment for Democracy called on the Moldovan political class to clean up itself. “So this is something that Moldova and its political elite have to struggle to clean it up. It is necessary to establish political movements that are credible, pro-democratic, and pro-European values,” he said.
Jerzy Pomianowski considers the Moldovan political class can regenerate. “Look what happens recently. The Platform for Dignity and Truth made the biggest gathering probably from the independence of Moldova. So many people gathered together just to say that they are unhappy about something. Maia Sandu got popularity up to 25-30% over few months, though she is a person without big political history. But she came with clean hands. Also, we talk about Iurie Leanca with his new political efforts trying to clean up himself from the past and build new credibility. I think that if we look at the political scene we will find a lot of energy and people who can deliver,” stated the European expert.
“But not everything is about one person or another. It’s about how they want to deal with the society in future, and if they consider civil society, people and free media as integral parts of the process. Or they simply look for another shift of the seats of those who rule and not in changes, while the corruption and inefficient justice go as before. If this is the case then of course there is no future,” he added.
