Parliamentary elections in Moldova: With new elections out of the permanent crisis?

Even her election was a surprise – now Moldova’s pro-European President Sandau is hoping for a majority in parliament. There, her supporters are fighting bitterly with pro-Russian forces for reforms – and for relations with Moscow.

Even if more than 20 other parties are in the running for the seats in today’s parliamentary election: It is the incumbent President Maia Sandu and her predecessor Igor Dodon who are fighting a bitter duel for political power – and thus for the future course of the republic Moldova.

Sandu, who is following a pro-European course, hopes that the “Aktion und Solidarität” (PAS) party she founded will achieve a stable majority in parliament – in order to be able to form a government that supports and implements her ambitious reform projects.

“This is our chance to purify the political class and bring politicians closer to the people,” said the president bluntly and clearly taking sides in a general election call that she posted on the net. “It’s up to you how quickly we can rid the country of corruption and poverty.”

Fears of turning away from Russia

Sandu has repeatedly accused the parliament, in which her political opponents had so far had a clear majority, of boycotting reforms in the judicial and economic sectors. There are only a few MPs who act in the interests of the people and who do not do business in their own pockets, she criticized.

Her pro-Russian opponent Dodon, head of the Socialist Party, accuses her of deliberately boycotting the formation of a government in the past few months in order to force new elections. He said in an interview with the Russian news broadcaster Rossija 24: “In the past six months we have had a deep political crisis that has had a negative impact on the economy, on the citizens and on the social sphere. ”

Dodon never tires of warning against a pro-European course. Turning away from Russia, he believes, would have devastating consequences: important sales markets – especially in the agricultural sector – would collapse; Fighting in the breakaway region of Transnistria, where Russian peacekeepers are still deployed to this day, may flare up again.

Dodon’s socialists – this time in alliance with the communists – admonish and warn against joining the EU and NATO and against the republic being taken over by Romania. They hope to score points with the pensioners and the rural population. They see the latest polls at around 25 percent. Sandus PAS, on the other hand, was and is still ahead: with more than 30 percent.

“It takes a change in thinking”

The Moldovan Florin hopes that Sandu will get a clear majority, not least thanks to the Moldovan diaspora living in the EU, in order to modernize the country. Even if it is painful: “I expect the government to do something about emigration. And that has to do with the economic situation in the country,” he says. “People leave because they don’t earn enough.” There are no prospects. No infrastructure. Just poverty and corruption.

And that, says Andrej, destroy everything. It makes the state a fiction, a phantom: “We suffer from a chronic illness that cannot be treated quickly,” he says. “It takes time, it takes a change in the political elite, a change in the thinking of our citizens.”

He would like to believe that this choice will lead the way. Ultimately, however, it is once again a question of left versus right. To east against west. A lot of promises – but not a panacea.