Of the series of IPN interviews with all the candidates for mayor general of Chisinau municipality: Valeriu Munteanu, candidate of the Liberal Party.
REPEAT
– What made you run for the mayoralty of Chisinau municipality?
– The main reason is that I wouldn’t have had who to vote for. I don’t say it with superiority or contempt. I say it with sincerity. A pro-European, anti-duo, anti-Putin and pro-Romania person like me wouldn’t have had who to vote for. There is an electorate that should be represented. I’m aware that this electorate is also furious! And it has all the reasons to be furious! Because it was robbed of hope, dignity and place in the history from where it was removed for a generation and was thrown to outskirts of the empire... If you want me to be very sincere with you, I entered the electoral race because I’m furious! I’m furious because the Plahotniuc-Dodon duo impoverished us, humiliates us, lies to us, mocks at us and robs our future and the future of our children. I’m a furious candidate!
– Why do you think you should be voted in the May 20 elections?
– I represent those voters in Chisinau who are profoundly – not circumstantially! – pro-European, who are indisputably against the Plahotniuc-Dodon duo that is pro-Romania and anti-Putin, without making compromises with the candidates of Moscow, those voters who three times successfully defended the fort of Chisinau from the attack of the anti-European forces of the East... I repeat: this electorate does not have another representative except me! I entered the race in order to win the mayoralty of our capital city because I’m profoundly convinced that I can represent namely this electorate, which is elevated, intelligent, informed and educated and which I want to represent.
Furthermore, I’m the only candidate who has sufficient training to be a good mayor of the largest city of the country. I was an MP and minister and know how to manage and to obtain funds for the city.
– Which are the most pressing three problems in Chisinau and how quickly can they be solved?
– 1. Lack of sufficient financing for implementing an integrated municipality development project.
2. Structural infrastructure deficiencies.
3. Lack of private investments in companies that would enable to create well-paid jobs.
What solutions do you suggest to them?
– 1. A larger part of the taxes paid on the territory of the municipality should be kept in the municipal budget; modern financing solutions should be applied such as issuing of municipal bonds; large investment projects should be budgeted on a multiannual basis.
2. The majority shareholding in the Chisinau International Airport should be transferred to the Chisinau Municipal Council; a highway should be built instead of the current railways; a new cogeneration gas power plant should be built; a Master Plan (long-term development strategy) for Transport Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities should be worked out to attract structured financing from the development partners and from the collected municipal taxes; all the large infrastructure projects should be completed within five years.
3. A Metropolitan Zone should be created around the city to increase the urbanity level and to enable the City Hall to build an Industrial Park and a Technological Park to attract investments from companies with high value added.
– How will the pay parking spaces project end, in your opinion?
A lot of parking lots are needed in Chisinau, in particular in the central city. Therefore, a number of projects should be developed, such as underground and ground parking places, tax-free parking spaces on municipal territory and parking spaces for money.
– What solutions do you have for the waste disposal problem in the city?
– Completion of an integrated waste management system; selective collection; modernization of the municipal waste dump in order to comply with the requirements; transfer stations for municipal waste; creation of a realistic system of multiannual targets for selective collection and recovery of packing (glass, wood, metal and plastic). The Chisinau City Hall is implementing a project worth €25 million in concert with the EBRD and EIB.
– What is the stake of the upcoming elections?
– First of all, the stake is the future of our dear city Chisinau. By my courageous, unordinary, but realistic program, I can transform the city into what it deserves to be and into what the people never saw. I can put Chisinau on the big map of the European cities. Just put your trust in me!
Secondly, the stake is the parliamentary elections of November 2018. My victory in the mayoral elections in Chisinau is the guarantee that the pro-European forces in autumn will remove the duo from the illegitimate administration of this state. That’s why they are afraid of me and try to remove me from the electoral race by all means or to minimalize me. What they do is useless. I know and everyone feels it: my popular approval rating goes up and the constant growth, until the election day, will take me to the runoffs and from there to the Chisinau City Hall. After we win the mayoralty, we will also win the parliamentary elections. The duo should start to pack up.
“Plahotniuc, you don’t even know how small you started to grow!”.
– Is the City Hall a trampoline for obtaining higher posts? Do you see yourself in big politics?
– I’m concerned about the City Hall and the interests and wishes of the citizens of Chisinau. I will struggle for them till the end. I can do it and know how to do it. I’m not afraid of struggle. I fight, not hide. I build, not mend. The Chisinau City Hall and the citizens of this city are my only agenda. I’m not interested in something else and this thing should be very clear.
– Will you run in the local elections of 2019 too?
– I will definitely run! A year of mayoralty will not be enough for me to complete my strategy and projects.
Valeriu Munteanu will be under No. 5 on the ballot.
IPN News Agency provided a platform for stating their views to all the 11 candidates for mayor general of Chisinau municipality. The invitation to give interviews wasn’t accepted by: Victor Stratila, candidate of the Green Ecologist Party; Vasile Costiuc, of the Party “Democracy at Home”, and Alexandru Mitu, of the Russian-Slavic Party of Moldova.
