In the Republic of Moldova, the political class is now divided into at least two elite groups. “It is the elite group that won the president elections, the pro-Western one, which is also divided, but insists on having greater legitimacy and this actually enjoys massive support in society. This was seen after the presidential elections and in the recent polls showing that they have a greater weight and legitimacy. And there are also the other segments – the counter-elites – the Party of Socialists in the person of ex-President Igor Dodon, who is the second personality by legitimacy in society, and also several political groups that are represented in Parliament and outside it,” former Deputy Prime Minister Victor Stepaniuc stated in IPN’s public debate “Components of political confrontation and impact of this on society”.
“The interests of these groups are different. Those from Parliament want to keep their weight. Their political future can be gloomy after the snap parliamentary elections and they, from legal and constitutional viewpoints, have the right to continue their mandate. The Constitution and the legislation provide that the MP is elected for four years. In this legal context legal, they want to rule the country, in the government and the opposition. Given our constitutional political regime, which is identical to the classical parliamentary republic, the power of the legislature and the executive primarily belongs to Parliament, the parliamentary majority,” stated Victor Stepaniuc.
According to him, the Constitutional Court hasn’t yet given a decisive response to the questions “Who is responsible for state power in the constitutional regime of the Republic of Moldova? Who is the main representative of the sovereignty of the people of the Republic of Moldova? Articles 2 and 60 of the Constitution say that Parliament is the supreme legislative body and the main representative body of the Moldovan people. So, the President of the Republic of Moldova does not have such powers, to be the main representative of the people. The President has foreign policy and national security powers, is the protector of sovereignty and independence, but the state power anyway is formed around the parliamentary majority.
Victor Stepaniuc considers the reformation of the political class in the near future is impossible as a political priority. For serious reorganization, society should be prepared so that the people make fewer mistakes in elections. There are now other priorities. The pandemic in 2020 and so far this year seriously affected the economy, exports and jobs. The whole political class should be concerned about these phenomena that will have negative consequences not only this year, but also next years as those who remain without a job intend to emigrate and emigration in Moldova didn’t end together with the presidential elections.
According to him, the responsible politicians must think about the creation of a national salvation government based on compromises. This should include the best specialists the country has. “We should leave aside the political, ideological and geopolitical confrontations and think how we can together overcome the crisis. A pact between the political forces at the crossroads in other countries brought only benefits to those societies. The compromise, dialogue with the involvement of civil society, specialists, people of science brought benefits to the counties. We, given also the former Plahotniuc regime that caused damage to the country and the situation of 2019-2020, should oblige the responsible politicians, people who can leave the personal ambitions aside, to work. A large part of our political class does not pursue other goals than the narrow party interests and oligarchic interests,” stated Victor Stepaniuc.
The public debate “Components of political confrontation and impact of this on society” is the 179th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
