Oazu Nantoi: We're still negligent students not having done our homework for 17 years

[ - You were among the leaders of the first political party registered after the declaration of Independence. What values promoted by your team then may be found in the life of the Moldovan society after years have passed?] - As a witness to and a participant in those processes, I reached the conclusion that the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR) was created by the Stalin regime, within the USSR, and was a consequence of the policies applied by the USSR's Communist regime. At the moment of the USSR's breakdown the Moldovan society was a kind of historical success for the USSR's Communist ideology. This finding explains in a way the multiple failures and missed chances that we have had during these 17 years and we're still going on having them. In the fall of 1989, on 13 October, I was elected as vice chairman of the Council of the Popular Front, but after talking to a number of people, very hotly and enthusiastically, I reached the conclusion that the Moldovan society needs a European-type political party, which would try and implement the European values within society. Helped by Estonians, I found the materials of the congresses of the Socialist Internationale in 89 and we decided to set up the Social-Democratic Party in Moldova. That party was the first to talk about Moldova's sovereignty, in the situation when the society was polarized in black and white – some were categorical in keeping the USSR, and others, to the same degree categorical, but in a more Romantic way, were talking about joining Romania. I am the author of the phrase I uttered in 1990 that the Republic of Moldova is condemned to be an independent state. I did not think then that the content of this notion of statehood would be so non-performing, so to say. We were the first ones to talk about the need for privatization, and I insisted on the idea that the private property changes man's psyche from a beggar from the state to a master of one's own destiny. I saw no contradiction that by declaring ourselves Social-Democrats, we were pleading for privatization. I had a rather active role in terms of the Transnistrian issue. In the state of emergency, in May 1992, the Social-Democratic Party held a news conference warning the society that the situation was going to be a catastrophe and I resigned from the position of Mircea Snegur's advisor. That was the beginning. When I was in the Front, I marred my image in the following way: if someone broke on me with the union idea, I used to tell him “Well, pal, I have nothing against, but please tell me: how?” The, the respective person stared at me and used to tell me: “Your are not a patriot.” I told him “no”, because it is one thing to write poems and quite another to make real politics, and, as some lamented about the idea of uniting with Romania, others swept to power exploiting the Romanianphobia existing in society, which had been implemented by the Soviet Communist regime. This policy is still on today. On values: in Moldova, so far, the state of law is not an accomplished project. The national market economy, due to serve as a basis for social projects, is not realized and Moldova's place within the European geo-political space is not defined. Consequently, we're bad students not having done our homework for 17 years. [ - Do we still have any time left?] - Unlike the Baltics, we're an example of missed opportunities. Still, life goes on. A young generation is coming and I think and hope we can expect positive changes from them, on condition that this generation rejects the system of anti-values imposed on us by the USSR, while the present ruling party goes on imposing it on us. One of the key problems of our society is the moral crisis. [ - Was the way in which the country's political system has evolved during these 17 years after the Independence beneficial for Moldova and its people?] - There is a gap between the ordinary man, trying to make the both ends meet, and the political system, there is a gap between the ordinary citizen and the political parties. The political parties are the most disrespected public institutions and most of the people think the political parties are inventions of the politicians from Chisinau, needed to get to power and steal. We have a proclaimed democracy, lacking a key element – the citizen. Consequently, we have a political melting pot not implying society's control over the political class. What we have in Moldova now is our merit exclusively. [ - What would you do differently in you career of a politician, if you were offered the chance again?] I don't play the returning-to-the-past games. I have lived my life as I lived it and I take into account a single criterion: in the morning, when I look in the mirror, it is good I am not ashamed to see my face. [ - Who, how and when can stop the Moldovans fleeing their independent country?] - One of the functions of the political leader is to promote a system of values. The pyramid of sycophants headed by Vladimir Voronin does not work as a state mechanism. The duty of a political leader is to set a conduct model. The, society follows up. We lack a conduct model to return the positive expectations to society. We don't think we can. The political leader who'll return the trust in our force could change the situation in this country.