Last week, the Party of Socialists (PSRM) and the Democratic Party (PDM) announced the initiation of discussions on the formation of a government coalition and particular meetings between the sides already took place. The involved sides stated their viewpoints on the necessities, motives and effects of an eventual coalition. Other political players, supporters and opponents of the idea about a new government majority also pronounced. The opinions are different. Some justify this new political movement, while others disapprove of it or even condemn it. In virtue of the particularities of the political life and of the experience accumulated when forming the previous ruling alliances, it is highly improbable that there will be sufficient information and clarity on the issue in the political sphere in the nearest future. That’s why to the public debate entitled “PSRM-PDM government coalition: necessities, possibilities, motives, impact on society?”, IPN Agency invited experts in the field to assess this new political idea with a great potential of influence on the Moldovan society’s life.
IPN project’s standing expert Igor Boțan said that the minority Government during four months managed to keep the situation under control and to ensure a minimum of political stability. On the other hand, the parliamentary groups of the PSRM and PDM, which are the largest, have together 58 seats of the 101. And this is enough for forming a majority coalition. “After four months, those from the PDM convinced themselves that the best solution is to assume a part of the responsibility by this eventual collation that is the most natural one because no other alliances are foreseen,” he stated.
According to the expert, even if there is a probability that other coalitions will be formed, this is much lower than the formalization of a coalition between the Socialists and the Democrats. “Why? Because they are situated on the same segment of the political spectrum – left-center-left. Because they promote practically the same “pro-Moldova” message and tens of examples can be given here. From my viewpoint, this is the most natural alliance possible. Surely, there are thorny issues that should be resolved somehow, but for now these two parties drafted their plans for the immediate future, including as regards the future presidential elections,” stated the expert.
Victor Juc, director of the Institute of Legal, Political and Sociological Research, said he does not believe that there is an objective necessity of forming a coalition based on a mutual, non-formalized agreement at present, unlike that of June 7, 2019. “In general, the parliamentary majorities are formed as a result of snap or ordinary parliamentary elections, when a new legislative body is formed or as a result of the resignation or removal, by a no-confidence motion, of the Prime Minister and when reshuffles are needed,” he stated.
According to Victor Juc, the subjective factor prevails now over the objective factor in the formalization of a PSRM-PDM majority as each of the sides follows rather subjective goals of ensuring a more consolidated presence in the government, especially because a no-confidence motion was expected. In this case, both of the sides are interested in reviewing their attitude to governance as they both now pursue different objectives.
Lawyer Ștefan Gligor, public policy expert, said this coalition is natural from objective and subjective viewpoints because the representatives of the two parties are compatible through their values or non-values. The formation of a new government cannot be discussed given that the current composition includes original members of the Democratic Party. “So, we have a coalition already. The minority government was a maneuver for distracting attention, for misleading. It was a political game, an episode of political technology and misinformation. The objective part derives from here. There are no divergences between them as regards the method of managing public affairs,” stated the expert.
“They said that this government is technocratic and that the Prime Minister is technocratic and they want to bring about a big economic change with the assistance of infrastructure projects, social policies, etc. To my mind, this wasn’t done and the term “technocratic” does not match. This government is not technocratic. It is a political government of Igor Dodon that is supported by the Democratic Party that remained an orphan without the almighty coordinator Vlad Plahotniuc. These orphans now have two options and I want to say that this coalition is dictated not only by their similar way of being, by the non-values that unite them, by the participation in all kinds of obscure things. They are united by the necessity. The political agenda of the Republic of Moldova dictates the behavior of the political parties,” stated Ștefan Gligor.
The debate “PSRM-PDM government coalition: necessities, possibilities, motives, impact on society?” was the 127th installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture through public debates” that are supported by the German foundation “Hanns Seidel”.
