Press Release
on the organization of the debate ”Government was invested: What do we want? What can it do?”. Public debates series held by the news agency IPN in its conference room with the support of the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”
Held on 06 August 2021, Debate No.199 brought together: political commentator Nicolae Negru , political commentator Vlad Țurcanu and Igor Boțan, IPN project’s standing expert..
The standing expert of IPN’s project Igor Boțan said Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița’s performance was satisfactory. The program presented by her in Parliament is a compilation of the PAS’s program for the parliamentary elections of 2021 and Maia Sandu’s program for the presidential elections of 2020. Furthermore, there were taken into account the directions set by Maia Sandu in the Parliament constitution sitting. From this viewpoint, the program was predictable. Natalia Gavrilița didn’t appropriately respond to some of the assertions of the opposition. BCS MP Vasile Bolea said the law is broken because the number of ladies on the Cabinet is lower. Natalia Gavrilița could have replied that the Chicu Government included only one woman. She could have also reminded that the law of 2015 on the equality of chances for women and men provides the quota of 40% should be ensured in elections only. As to the rest, the ladies cannot be prevented from applying for public posts.
The expert related that the current Government was invested in the fastest way since the declaring of Moldova’s independence. “In accordance with the legislation, the Government is invested in six stages, namely the calling of Parliament and formation of the Parliament’s administrative bodies, followed by consultations held by the President with the parliamentary groups and the nomination of a candidate for Prime Minister. Later, during 15 days, the candidate-designate compiles the list of ministers and designs the government program. Parliament is then convoked to debate the government program and to give a vote of confidence. An oath is later taken and the presidential decree on the formation of the Government is signed,” stated Igor Boțan, noting the Government is a relatively independent power that manages the public affairs and is responsible for the implementations of the country’s domestic and foreign policy. It can be removed by Parliament by a no-confidence motion or can be removed if the Government assumes responsibly for bills that are not supported by Parliament.
Communication expert Vlad Țurcanu said the way in which they behave outside the pressure that is normally exerted by the opposition on ministers is the most important aspect for the current Cabinet, for Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița. The current opposition is unable to claim something from the Government and Natalia Gavrilița anticipated this moment, trying to be combative and to reject any right of appeal before the Communists and the Socialists started to make reproaches. The MPs of the Shor Party try to be cooperative for strategic and tactical reasons.
“It is yet clear that her performance is related to image and the most important things will derive from the ordinary activity of this Government. Conclusions as to what this Government can do will be drawn in several months,” stated the expert, noting the authors of the government program realize that everything starts from zero and particular experiments can be seen during the first year or even during the second year of mandate as particular things will be tested until an order is established.
According to Vlad Țurcanu, the Government’s capacity to communicate will weigh a lot in the future, in making the people participate in public events. The ministers who took up their duties should realize the importance of this moment in an information age.
Political analyst Nicolae Negru said the new Government has a trump card compared with the other Governments. “I refer to the fact that most of the ministers do not have administrative experience and come from the field of expertise, from the NGO sector. This is beneficial as the old mistakes will not be made and those persons will come with a fresh view to the Government. The citizens expect things to be moved on,” he stated.
According to the expert, the main question is how the Moldovan economy will develop. Among the problems is also the shortage of labor force, the geopolitical situation, the presence of the Russian troops on Moldova’s territory and others. The foreign investors are unwilling to come here and invest in the long run. The Government needs youth boldness to do things that weren’t done until now. The government program shows particular flaws from the same machinery will be removed, but the machinery should be fully replaced. The problem of financial resources is very serious. The government program does not say where money will be taken from, if only from our development partners. But the way that will be followed by the economy is not specified.
“The society’s expectations are big, but there is a particular indulgence towards this Government as the people realize that the things done wrong during 30 years cannot be repaired swiftly. It is yet seen that the new government does not abandon the electoral rhetoric. They create a triumphalist atmosphere and generate the idea that there will be no stealing, no corruption and the state institutions will be cleaned. This is a wrong approach as the people should be oriented to work,” stated Nicolae Negru.
The public debate “Government was invested: What do we want? What can it do?” is the 199th installment of the series of debates staged in the framework of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.According to the specialist, if the European Union or different players come from the West with assistance to Moldova and exert influence through this assistance, this is not a problem. There are two types of influence. Public influence is when the representatives of international organizations meet with representative of the public authorities of Moldova openly, transparently, visibly. It is another thing when bags with money are transmitted for particular parties in very invisible ways and this becomes known purely accidentally. “When vehicles loaded with money cross the border, this is dangerous influence,” stated Mark Mazureanu.
The Agency published 4 news stories on the debate: on 06.08.21, „Government was invested: What do we want? What can it do? IPN debate- https://www.ipn.md/en/government-was-invested-what-do-we-want-what-can-it-8004_1083587.html; „ Nicolae Negru: Citizens should be oriented to labor, not to triumphalism” - https://www.ipn.md/en/nicolae-negru-citizens-should-be-oriented-to-labor-not-to-8004_1083586.html; „ Vlad Țurcanu: This Government re-embodies hopes of 1991” - https://www.ipn.md/en/vlad-turcanu-this-government-re-embodies-hopes-of-1991-8004_1083585.html , „Igor Boțan: PAS should get ready for reshuffles” - https://www.ipn.md/en/igor-botan-pas-should-get-ready-for-reshuffles-8004_1083588.html .
Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN
