Sunday’s protest rally was “exclusively political, organized by the opposition, in support of a system that has failed to act in the interests of citizens”, stated PAS lawmaker Marcela Adam during a public debate hosted by IPN. “This is the first time that the Superior Council of Prosecutors has responded to a complaint from an MP. Previously there were other complaints in this regard and absolutely nothing happened”, says Adam.
Marcela Adam recalled that PAS had the initiative to amend the Law on the Prosecution Service to enable an evaluation of the Prosecutor General. “Perhaps these actions triggered certain tectonic movements in the Moldovan politics”
“I don’t think it was a protest for justice (as another participant in the debate, Com-Soc lawmaker Vladimir Odnostalko , branded it), because they actually protested against whom? If we look at the messages that were shouted out there, who did they accuse? It was not a citizens’ action (...) Let’s see how many people came out, what part of civil society was involved in those protests. From what I saw in the media, the were also people who came to protest against those demonstrations”, said Marcela Adam.
“When a protest genuinely aims to defend the interests of citizens, it is a democratic action. When protests are organized in the hidden interests of political parties or other groups, it raises several questions. We agree that Mr. Stoianoglo, like any Moldovan citizen, must have a fair investigation. A PAS lawmaker only submitted a complaint to CSP. What followed next was the call of that body, which supervises the activity of the prosecution service. Next, all the objections, the communication must come from the prosecutors, from those who are investigating this case. And I don’t understand why the objections or accusations of the protesters were directed against the President, the MPs, the government in general”, asked the PAS deputy.
“Why is the opposition talking about a ‘regime’? Let’s not forget what regime we just came out of. Let’s not forget that this past election campaign we promised to the people, first of all, to exact justice and we said that we will clean the institutions. That’s what we did in Parliament, with a package of laws for justice reform. That’s it. Next, the relevant bodies should do their job”, said Marcela Adam.
“As a simple citizen, I wonder, what are the results of Prosecutor General Stoianoglo’s work? Is it an achievement not to put pressure on businesses? This is an obligation of prosecutors, to defend citizens, businessmen against predatory, illegal actions. It is an obligation, not an achievement. I would have considered it a merit of the prosecutor general if he had come to Parliament with concrete results on the most high-profile cases – the theft of the billion, the airport concession, Metalferos. And when we say that certain cases have been closed, why don’t we say that not many files have been opened that need to be investigated, and which society demands - the Bahamas, the “plastic bag” and other cases? The prosecutor had to explain to the people who were waiting for these explanation”, said Marcela Adam.
“The current opposition are now posing as defenders of justice and fairness. It’s just that their credibility is zero. People saw how they know to fight corruption, how they know how to administer justice. They had practically two years of total government. Is it right when someone gets rich on the backs of citizens and citizens live in poverty? People clearly felt the pension increases. And there will be other allowances. The government is working to identify sources, to help people”, said Marcela Adam, suggesting that there is no social basis for protests.
The public debate on last Sunday’s protest rally was held by IPN as part of the “Developing Political Culture” Series, with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
