“There are no authentic parties in Moldova. There are groups of interests here and this is the biggest problem of our country,” editor-in-chief of the economic publication “Logos-press” Dmitry Kalak stated in IPN’s public debate “European integration during the pandemic: new opportunities or stagnation?”.
“Where is now the Liberal Democrat Party that took all the decisions in this country during five years? Where is the Democratic Party? Where is the Liberal Party now? The politicians juggle with conceptions, statements... They now say one thing and tomorrow join another party and say another thing. Then they join the third party and change the rhetoric. In a normal society, such a thing is unconceivable,” said the journalist.
Dmitry Kalak believes that banning the parties is the only solution to such a situation. “All the parties should be banned, at least for a five-year period. We must hold elections in single-member constituencies, ban the founding of parliamentary parties and allow each MP to vote as knowledge, experience and conscience tell them. Only this way we will get rid of the rottenness that entered the notion of party in our country,” he stated.
In another development, Sergey Manastîrlî, director of the Center for Analyses, Research and Forecasts “Balkan Center”, said that if the parties are banned, Moldova will not get rid of the main problem as there will further be oligarchic and pro-oligarchic financial and industrial groups that will continue to promote their financial and economic interests with the help of politicians.
“The political parties in Moldova have fully discredited themselves and we have followed the consequences of this phenomenon for several electoral cycles in a row,” stated Sergey Manastîrlî. “The low voter turnout is the main consequence. The people lose interest in the electoral process as they understand that the influence on the decision-making process is exerted not by them on the election day, but by those who finance the parties.”
Alexandr Stahurskii, of the of Center for Strategic Studies and Reforms, reminded that almost a year ago, three key international judges supported the removal of Vladimir Plahotniuc from power in Moldova. “Now they look at what is going on in our country and wonder: who needed all our efforts?” he stated.
The public debate “European integration during the pandemic: new opportunities or stagnation?” was staged in the framework of the project “Overcoming stereotypes of European integration by communication” that is implemented by IPN with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
