In captivity, the expression: how Moldova is preparing for parliamentary elections
In Moldova, there is a week left before the most important parliamentary elections. The closer the voting day gets, the more tense the situation in the country becomes. Opposition activists are being searched on a daily basis, and the largest protest association, the Patriotic Bloc, is facing withdrawal from the race. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Meeting at the raid
Parliamentary elections will be held in Moldova on September 28. All candidates run on party lists or in their personal capacity at the national level, and there are no majoritarian districts. In total, 19 associations have been registered to participate in the electoral procedure, as well as four independent candidates, among them the most famous is former Interior Minister Andrei Nastase.
The election campaign is taking place under unprecedented pressure on the opposition. On September 18, police and other law enforcement agencies conducted up to 100 searches in the case of electoral corruption, and the epicenter of the investigation was the city of Balti in the north of the country. A day earlier, 70 searches took place in Chisinau, and on the 16th, a raid was conducted there related to the case of illegal financing of political parties.
Security forces traditionally accompany their reports on past raids with the publication of videos that allegedly prove the guilt of activists. In these videos, unidentified people usually say something about transferring money, as well as pictures of wads of cash, and sometimes Russian bank cards. Specific personalities are not named. The opposition always emphasizes that all this is not evidence, but only creates a certain information background.
On September 16, searches also took place in the offices of two opposition TV channels, Primul in Moldova and Canal 5. Previously, their broadcasting license had already been revoked, so now they are broadcast only online. "They seized all our equipment, stopped filming, closed the studios and suspended the production of news and interviews. This is not a fight against tax evasion, but an open attempt to deprive the opposition of its voice," Primul in Moldova noted.
Interior Minister Daniella Misail-Nikitina reported that during the election campaign, the security forces had already conducted more than 2,000 searches, and several criminal cases had been opened. The total number of defendants in these cases is not mentioned, but among them there are quite well-known politicians, including two vice-mayors of Comrat, as well as former member of Parliament Viorel Melnik.
It's hard to be a block
A significant part of the searches took place at the activists of the "Heart of Moldova" party, which is headed by former Bashkan of Gagauzia Irina Vlah. At the same time, the politician's problems arose not only in connection with the actions of the security forces. So, at the end of August, she was sanctioned by Canada, and in mid-September she was banned from entering Lithuania. In addition, the state Tax service, on the instructions of the head of government, blocked Vlah's bank accounts.
Finally, the police summoned the leader of the "Hearts of Moldova" for questioning. At the same time, on September 17, the CEC appealed to the Ministry of Justice with a demand to restrict the activities of the party due to the fact that it allegedly received illegal financing. During the meeting, the representative of the association noted that not a single violation has been proven in court, we are talking about speculation. Vlah herself promised to challenge the CEC's decision.
The leader of the party "The Heart of Moldova" Irina Vlah
Information is circulating in Moldovan social networks that the "Heart of Moldova" may have new problems. For example, former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, citing law enforcement sources, said that Irina Vlah and a number of her associates could be detained in the coming days. Renato Usatii, the leader of Our Party, also said that security forces would carry out mass arrests before the parliamentary elections.
In addition, the Moldovan National Party, which is close to the authorities, demanded that the "Heart of Moldova" be removed from the elections. The problem is that the Vlah association is part of the popular "Patriotic Bloc", which is considered the main competitor of the ruling party. In this regard, an option is being discussed in which the entire broad protest coalition will be removed from the elections at the last moment.
Alexander Bot, an expert on electoral legislation, says in a comment to Moldovan media that such a scenario is quite possible. According to him, it is absolutely not necessary to prove violations in court. "The CEC may revoke registration based on its own verification or information provided by law enforcement agencies, for example, a decision to institute criminal proceedings," he emphasizes.
Another important pre-election story concerns the extradition of oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc. In the 2010s, he was considered the gray cardinal of Moldovan politics, who controlled the main state institutions with the help of corruption and extensive financial capabilities. In 2019, he fled the country, and the current authorities promised from the very beginning to punish him, but it was only in July of this year that he was detained in Greece.
Vladimir Plahotniuc
Plahotniuc himself is actively fueling interest in his fate. After his arrest, he said that he would be happy to come to his homeland, where he would publish some devastating compromising material. All of this has become a separate storyline during the current campaign. Some believed that the ruling party was afraid of exposing the oligarch. Others said that PAS hoped to demonstrate its effectiveness in the fight against corruption through this process.
As a result, the extradition process was very difficult. On September 17, Greece reported that the procedure was suspended, allegedly Romania sent its request to Athens, where the case of forgery of documents by Plahotniuc is also being investigated. On September 19, it became known that the difficulties had been resolved, and on the 25th, the fugitive oligarch would arrive in Chisinau. It is expected that his appearance and statements may influence the outcome of the elections.
What the experts say
Vladimir Zharikhin, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, believes that the opposition has no chance of winning.
— The opponents of the ruling party are crushed by information, deprived of access to their voters. In addition, there is also organizational pressure. Many polling stations will be opened in Western countries, but only two in Russia. In last year's presidential election, Sandu won only at the expense of the diaspora. It is obvious that even now this resource will be used to the maximum," he notes.
Moldovan political analyst Corneliu Ciurea says that if the conditions were equal, the opposition would have a good chance of winning.
— We see that there are no such conditions. Objectionable parties are removed from the elections, opposition media are blocked, and the authorities may well resort to direct fraud when counting votes. I also do not rule out the possibility that the "Patriotic Bloc", popular with the protest electorate, may be withdrawn from the race at the last moment. So far, the authorities lack the audacity and courage, but I assume that in the remaining days they will still gain the courage," he argues.
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