Ex-President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin, chairman of the Party of Communists (PCRM), stated his expectations of the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 24, 2019. In the program “In Depth” broadcast by Pro TV Chisinau channel on October 18, 2018, the leader of the PCRM said: “The election campaign prior to the parliamentary elections will be very interesting because the mixed electoral system will destroy all the years of independence. It is not known what kind of Parliament we will ultimately have. Persons of wealth and those who will make many promises.” Cleary and comprehensively! The danger derives from the so-called sacks of money and owners of propagandistic media holding and undermines the independence of the Republic of Moldova.
Despite the pessimistic remarks, Vladimir Voronin sees yet a struggle perspective. It seems that he knows how to neutralize an explosive that consists of a mixture of money and propaganda. In this regard, the Communist leader wants an electoral confrontation in a single-member constituency with the current President of Moldova Igor Dodon, the informal leader of the Party of Socialists (PSRM). The given wish is very clear and the motivation was stated fragmentarily in time:
- Igor Dodon claims that he is the author of the initiative to amend the Election Code and introduce the mixed electoral system, while Vladimir Voronin challenges this with a much more pronounced vehemence than the European institutions;
- As a political leader, Igor Dodon is fully the pupil of Vladimir Voronin, who brought him to the top of the political pyramided from the business sector, initially as deputy minister of economy, then as minister and, respectively, first deputy prime minister;
- Igor Dodon is the politician who, instead of expressing gratitude, cardinally and irreparably undermined the PCRM, which promoted him to the top of the political pyramid. He left the PCRM in November 2011, at the moment when this had a rating of ~40%, saving thus the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) from eventual early parliamentary elections. Namely Igor Dodon’s vote of March 16, 2012, alongside the AEI, for electing the President contributed to overcoming the political crisis that could lead to the end of the AEI. Vladimir Voronin spoke about this earlier with a camouflaged regret - Igor Dodon was brought up in the PCRM, but nobody had time to develop that film to ventilate it on time... Yesterday at an NGO, today at Scholarships, tomorrow deputy minister, the day after tomorrow first deputy minister, minister and then first deputy prime minister in the Government and no one had time to open that film to air it out”;
-The leaded of the PCRM considers Igor Dodon and the PSRM do not have political identity. The PSRM is no way a Socialist party as it claims. It is an opportunist, small bourgeois, clerical party that refused to even state its attitude to the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, not speaking about commemorating his event somehow;
- Igor Dodon does not fulfil his promises and public obligations. He requested Vladimir Voronin that he should be handed over the card of membership in the PCRM on April 22, 2010, when it was the 140th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin so that he could take the oath of Communist in a festive way, near the monument to the leader of the world proletariat. In only a year and a half, he renounced his own convictions for something else.
Namely in this connection, Vladimir Voronin asserted with regret that from now on: “We (PCRM) will be unable to form a coalition with someone in the parliamentary elections or in the political activities owing to our ideology and policies.” The Communist leader’s despondency is accentuated by the visit paid by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Moldova. Vladimir Voronin expressed his conviction that this visit was made after the Turkish official demanded to expel the seven ticklish citizens. “Why was Erdogan’s visit scheduled for this August postponed? Because the seven Turkish citizens hadn’t been yet extradited. It is evident that particular conditions were imposed. (...) After these seven Turkish citizens were sent to jails in Turkey, he finally came… What other explanation for the sudden love of Turkey’s president can be there?”. If we add to this the present offered by Turkey’s President to the Moldovan authorities – two vehicles with water towers for dispersing protesters - we can understand why the leader of the PCRM foresees dangers to Moldova’s independence as this present was somehow designed to outfit the Janissaries.
Judging by the Communist leaders’ statements, we can say that Vladimir Voronin will not yet enjoy the pleasure to confront frontally the informal leader of the PSRM Igor Dodon at the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019. First of all, Igor Dodon would be afraid of such a perspective as the arguments of his political mentor are too solid. Secondly, Igor Dodon declared he would like to run in elections on the national list of candidates of the PSRM only as an electoral engine of the party. Thirdly, there are constitutional restrictions preventing the President from acting as the promotor of the interests of a party. The last thing is probably even beneficial to Igor Dodon as this enables him to avoid a direct confrontation with Vladimir Voronin despite the mixture of financial and propagandistic resources owned by the PSRM.
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