In 2008, the Mayor General focused on populist and electoral actions like ‘Fir Tree-2’. Info-Prim Neo interview with Emil Gutu, the leader of the Social-Democratic Party faction in the Chisinau Council

[ - Last year, the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) had two decisional majorities. Would you speak about their efficiency?] - Unfortunately, there was no decisional majority in the CMC in 2008. The Mayor General was unable but also unwilling to create it. A declared, but non-functional coalition existed in the first half of the year. In fact, it has never worked as a coalition, but was used as a screen for promoting exclusively liberal and extremist ideas. Any attempt of the Social-Democrats and other parties to fulfill the promises made to the voters through the agency of this so-called coalition met with the fierce resistance of Mihai Ghimpu. Actually, a number of municipal councilors and even faction leaders like Alexandru Tanase and Alexandru Corduneanu accused directly Mihai Ghimpu of destroying the coalition created in 2007. The situation when the authority of the CMC is intentionally damaged could not be tolerated anymore. So, Eduard Musuc was elected as president of the CMC in June. Consequently, hundreds of urgent matters that directly concerned the lives of tens of thousands of Chisinau residents had been settled rather quickly. But, as there was no stable majority in the CMC, many problems had not been solved. [ - How did the relations between the CMC and the Mayor General develop last year and what effects did they have on the Chisinau residents?] - There had been practically no relations between the CMC and the Mayor General in 2008. The mayor withdrew from the process of solving the acute problems faced by the capital city and focused exclusively on populist and electoral actions like ‘Fir Tree-2’. Important issues like the budget of the Chisinau municipality had been discussed in the CMC in the absence of the mayor. In 2008, the mayor did not cooperate with the CMC, but only used it as a rostrum for statements. The consequences for the Chisinau residents have been disastrous: the city is full of garbage, the stray dogs continue to attack children and old persons, the heating season started with delay and the heat supply is permanently in danger. [ - What can your faction and the Council do together to improve the situation in Chisinau in 2009?] - Things in the capital city will improve only when every municipal councilor and the Mayor General realize that they were elected by the Chisinau residents and their duty is to make their life better by honestly and efficiently managing the public affairs. Regrettably, the Mayor General and some of the councilors see their work in the local public administration not as a duty but as a jumping board for entering the Parliament. The Social-Democratic faction will continue to remind the colleagues in the CMC and the Mayor General that the problems we promised the voters to solve must be remedied. We will also continue to propose constructive solutions to the existent problems.