On November 1, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova will elect the county’s President for a four-year term in office. IPN News Agency asked passersby: “What should be done for the elections to be held fairly so that the results really represent the voters’ wish?” The answers are presented below:
Corina Bobeico, 37, housewife:
“I think the results of this autumn’s elections should reflect the people’s vote and vote rigging should be excluded. The votes should be fair and should not be bought and the voters should not be brought by buses from Tiraspol or from somewhere else. The people should think 100 times. We should not endure for four more years as we tolerated this mister-non-miser”.
Vasile Clichici, 61, actor:
“The rigging of elections, with the assistance of Transnistria of course - the transportation of voters to polling places - should be prevented. The people should go to the polls in a civilized way so that we ultimately overcome this post-Soviet mess. Our intellectuals, who are categorically against the elections, which is they do not vote for anyone, will only do harm to the country”.
Gheorghe Chirdeanov, 28, porter:
“They should be organized seriously, correctly, according to all rules. A lot of people are bought to vote for Dodon, for example. They are paid 100-200 lei and thus give their vote, especially the elder people. These people do not realize that 100 lei is spent during a day, but we have to yet live long”.
Vitalie Prisacari, 33, IT engineer:
“First of all, the candidates should be honest. If we speak about the electoral process, there are a number of aspects. I didn’t inquire a lot and it’s hard for me to formulate really important things, but each citizen’s contribution should be taken into account, in a transparent way, not as it happens in our country: now the documents are here and are then taken elsewhere and the possibility of falsifying them appears. This mechanism should be eliminated. Absolute transparency is needed. They should better use technologies where all the operations are distinct and changes in previous records cannot be made as the whole system will be affected. This is one of the key elements in the organization of elections”.
Ilona Merzenco, 36, housewife:
“We first of all need a normal President, better than Dodon, and should not pray to God to make a candidate so. If a candidate wants to be so, he should do something in this regard. If he does nothing, no order will be established. Dodon, for example, said one thing, but did another thing. The people will have confidence to vote as their heart tells them”.
Vasile Bajura, 22, student
“I would call on the young people to go and vote and not to remain indifferent to our situation. They should know that the future is in their hands and should thus take a decision and vote. We will fulfill our duty. Those who deal with the ballots should do their job for our votes to be there where they should be”.
Ludmila Pronicheva, 70, economist, pensioner:
“What shall we do? The politicians should be probably very honest and open. However, the people elect them. Evidently, they should be more open towards the people. I want to hope for the better and to believe that it will be fine and we will not allow such moments as those in Ukraine, Belarus. It’s terrible. I fear for the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and for Moldova’s future in general. Let’s take the union with Romania. Some of the people are for, while others are against. I think our society is divided a lot. I’m not a politician. I’m a grandmother and great-grandmother”.
Nadejda Sverdlic, 35, office-manager:
“For the elections to be fair this year, each member of the electoral bureau and of the CEC should be honest and should work for the benefit of our state, its future. They should be attentive, monitor and work for everyone’s benefit, not for the 300-400 lei paid that day. We should think not about the present, but about the future. Everyone thinks about a better future and is too credulous”.
Tatiana Braicov, 35, coordinating specialist:
“We should first fight corruption and not during a year or two years, but during about ten years as this is deep-rooted in the Republic of Moldova. Everything starts from us. If we do not give bribe, those from the upper level will not take bribe. They go to church, gather together whole villages and promise a lot, but repair a road section that becomes damaged after rain. They also offer other things, such as buckwheat, stewed meat. Our list for corrupting is long”.
Marina Florea, IPN
