The communists’ victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova was no surprise. Opinion polls showed they had a considerable lead over the Democrats, who again failed to persuade voters to choose a change of power in Kishinev. History repeated itself, as the large number of parties without a political history and no personality attacking each other in the election campaign made the electorate more fearful about their future and indifferent to the fate of democracy in their country. Taking advantage of this image capital, the communists won for the third time after 2001 the elections in the small state lying between the Prut and Nistru rivers. They will get to form the government and have a strong say in the election by Parliament of the new president, with Vladimir Voronin no longer allowed by the Constitution to run for a third term in office.
Against the background of a pro-Soviet nostalgia and the economic crisis, the communists were elected by the poor voters living on state aid and the large mass of employees whose average incomes barely exceed 100 euros a month. The results of the Communists Party, which won approximately 50% of the votes, have been recognised by the international community, but not by a portion of the opposition and the population. In Kishinew, thousands of people took to the streets on Monday and Tuesday to protest against the communists staying in power. Smaller scale demonstrations were held in Iasi and Galati, in eastern Romania, where hundreds of Moldovan students go to school on grants paid by the Romanian state. They warn that by keeping in power the pro-Russian government, Kishinew will distance itself even more from its European Union aspirations.
Communism with a human face, they argue, will only deepen the poverty of the nation, with 25% of Moldovans having already been forced to search for jobs abroad , and prolong the conflict with Transnistria, a pro-Russian break-away region in the east, while the solution to this conflict will continue to depend on Moscow’s geopolitical interests. Last but not least, a continuation along the same lines of Moldova’s current foreign policy will maintain the low temperature in the relationship with the neighbouring Romania who sees it as its duty to support and defend both its citizens living in the Republic of Moldova and the large numbers of Moldovans who speak and write in the Romanian language.
El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso 