The political crisis faced by Moldova this spring was solved because the ruling politicians were afraid of early elections. “The early elections were an important factor that made the political players to reach a compromise. This factor was decisive. A series of polls showed that the early elections would be detrimental to the ruling parties,” Arcadie Barbarosie, director of the Public Policy Institute (IPP), said in the public debate “Lessons learned and lessons to be learned. Overcoming and prevention of political crises: role of the political class and society - 1” that was staged by IPN News Agency.
According to the IPP director, another factor was the pressure exerted by society through statements and attitudes. The encouragement of the development partners also helped solve the crisis. “We must understand that this crisis was overcome in a forced way. Three leaders of the former alliance were removed from power. The crisis wasn’t generated by doctrinaire views or disagreements. I want to believe that the new coalition is durable and will stand firm until the ordinary elections,” said Arcadie Barbarosie.
He also said that the coalition governments are anywhere not very viable. They may be viable only in the countries where the parties are democratic institutions and where the decisions aren’t taken by a group of people who finance parties, where the discussions are held pragmatically. “We didn’t see fundamental doctrinaire discussions during the formation of this coalition. An important thing that should be discussed is the fact that society does not want a coalition government. The Public Opinion Barometer of November 2012 showed that more than 50% of the population wants to have one ruling party,” stated Arcadie Barbarosie.
At the same time, Barbarosie believes that Moldova is doomed to have coalition governments for a long time on. “The ruling elite plays a role in educating society. It must educate the people so that they accept the coalition governments and support them. I suggest creating a framework that would favor internal democracy in parties and limited financing. The legislation on mass media ownership is also important. The party financing and the mass media should be demonopolized. Then the parties will be forced to take decisions at internal level,” said the IPP director.
The 19th public debate “Lessons learned and lessons to be learned. Overcoming and prevention of political crises: role of the political class and society - 1” of the series “Development of political culture by public debates” was organized with support from the German foundation “Hanns Siedel”.
