Weekly Roundup

May 8 - 14

Welcome back to Moldova Matters! In this weekly roundup we will check in with the top stories of the week in Politics and Economics. Subscribe to Moldova Matters to get our Weekly Roundup and other content sent right to your email! And consider becoming a paid subscriber to support our work at Moldova matters. For just $5 / month, the price of a nice coffee, you can support this work and help us expand into even better content!

Politics - Election Prep Continues

As discussed in the last Weekly Roundup, election preparations are fully underway with the main parties (English language roundup of parties) preparing their party lists and forming Electoral Alliances known as “blocks” whereby parties combine their efforts and their party lists to compete under a common brand. 

PCRM PSRM Block

The Party of Socialists led by Igor Dodon and the Party of Communists led by Vladimir Voronin have formally constituted an electoral block. In a statement announcing the official launch of the block the leaders stressed their opposition to NATO expansion and their opinion that western influence in Moldova constitutes a threat to the sovereignty and neutrality of the nation. The block’s billboards say “Moldova is in danger. We do not give the country to foreigners.” This further cements the fact that the block intends to run with a strong geopolitical message attacking the United States and the European Union as well as western leaning politicians in Moldova. 

The Socialists further announced a “pro-family” and “traditional values” agenda. They intend to amend Article 48 of the Constitution which already identifies the core unit of the family as marriage between a man and a woman to explicitly prohibit parenting by same sex couples. Additionally, they propose criminal penalties for “gay propoganda” which can be interpreted as speaking publicly about gay rights. Finally, the Socialists rounded off these initiatives by calling for Moldova to reject the Istanbul Convention against domestic violence and violence against women. The Socialists claim this “kills family values.”

The block chose it’s symbol with the Soviet Star used by the Socialists and the Hammer and Sickle of the Communist Party in the center. 

Interestingly the PSRM PCRM Block will be called the “Party of Communists and Socialists” and the number one name on the party list, traditionally signifying the leader of the block, will by Mr. Voronin not Mr. Dodon. Explaining the ordering, Mr. Dodon said that the listing of the names is alphabetical and that Mr. Voronin will head the list as he is the more senior of the two in experience and age. Additionally, sources say that the Communists will get 6 seats in the top party list numbers that will guarantee them this number of seats in Parliament. Overall, this seems like a very good deal for the Communists who would have not have gotten a single seat outside of the block. 

Filat Announces PLDM Will Not Participate in Elections

The former chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party PLDM has announced the failure of negotiations with the Dignity and Truth Platform DA to create a block. Filat says that in consultations DA presented quote “humiliating conditions” to PLDM and that with the failure of efforts to join a block PLDM will not compete in the election and urge their supporters to back PAS and President Sandu. DA representatives dispute the “humiliating” categorization. But the reality is that this highlights the failure of Mr. Filat to return to Politics in any meaningful way since he was released from prison on charges of facilitating the Theft of the Billion. 

A Union of Unionists?

The AUR Party is leading an effort to consolidate all of the Pro-Union parties in a new electoral block they call a Union of Unionists. They state that the goal is to mobilize all parties that represent the goal of union between Moldova and Romania into a single block. Currently, there are no Unionist Parties in Parliament. The Romanian People’s Party has announced they will join the block, and the “Save the Bassarabian Union Party” is in negotiations. The larger Liberal Party has yet to comment publicly. Taken together, these all represent small  extra-parliamentary parties. But the AUR block is worth watching as this is AUR’s first participation in Moldovan elections and they are backed by the strong AUR party in Romania. 

How Will the Elections Be Paid for?

The Central Election Commission CEC has asked the Interim Government to allocate 125 million lei for the conduct of elections. This week, the Interim Government announced that it would allocate only 70 million lei saying that the entire reserve fund is only 98 million lei. Recall that Mr. Dodon has previously said that the Parliament, which he controls, will not allocate more money and that this may cause “problems” with the election or even delay it. CEC representatives have said that lower funding for the election will result in fewer voting locations outside of Moldova for the Diaspora. Since the Diaspora is a major PAS stronghold it seems that there would be an electoral advantage for the block led by the Socialists if the election is underfunded. Meanwhile, the CEC has been registering Diaspora voters online for the past weeks in order to determine the best positioning of voting locations abroad. This story is likely to evolve in the coming weeks as the enthusiasm of the Diaspora runs into budgetary constraints of the CEC. 

Victory Day and Europe Day in Moldova

Sunday May 9th was “Victory Day” where most former Soviet states celebrate the capitulation of Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War. The Socialist Party organized a parade and march to commemorate the holiday with veters of the war and lots of people, young and old alike, dressed in soviet military uniforms (see this link for a photo roundup of the parade and ceremonies). President Sandu laid a wreath at the WW2 memorial and gave a speech addressing the history and sacrifices of the Moldovan people both in the war and in the following Soviet occupation. Recall that May 9th in the European Union is celebrated as “Europe Day.” EU representatives and political groups in Moldova also celebrated this holiday. Western European countries celebrate VE Day and the ending of the war on May 8th, largely a case of the vast difference in time zones of western countries and Moscow. The holidays falling on the same day in Moldova is a traditional source of tension with pro-Russian parties pushing Victory Day Celebrations and more Pro-EU parties celebrating Europe Day. 

COVID-19 Updates

Case and death rates continue to decline with a 7 day running average of 199 cases / day and 11 deaths. It seems that the restrictions in place, climbing vaccinations and warm weather are all contributing to a sustained decline in cases. 

Blue represents daily cases / deaths. Red represents the 7-day moving average

Vaccinations Continue and Begin to Accelerate

Vaccinations continue in Moldova hitting a record this week of 10,000 doses given in one day. Currently, 175,000 people have received at least one dose with 6% of the population getting a single dose and around 1% with a full 2 dose regime. These numbers are undercounts as the Ministry of Health has still made no provision for counting Moldovans who go to Romania for vaccinations. 

It seems that the accelerating rate of vaccinations is set to continue as Moldova officially enters Phase 3. According to the National Vaccination Plan this should mean that all people are eligible either through their Family Doctors or through one of the new mass vaccination clinics. Unfortunately, the rollout to Phase 3 has been uneven and some places are still creating priority lists for front line workers instead of fully opening the process. President Sandu again called on the Ministry of Health to fully open the process as soon as possible. 

In Chisinau, many people have reported success going to the Mass Vaccination Centers and / or calling their Family Doctors. If you are a Moldovan Citizen or Resident and you want a vaccine you should make arrangements now. The supply is there. 

Updates on Restrictions

This week, Restaurants were permitted to stay open until 11 pm (back from 10 pm last week and 8 pm 3 weeks ago). Social distancing, masking and sanitary requirements remain in place for all companies. One major concern has been Memorial Easter where Moldovan families traditionally celebrate in cemeteries with their buried relatives. The Government officially restricted cemeteries to prevent super spreader events from these large gatherings, but many localities, including Chisinau, have overridden this and indicated they will allow the holiday gatherings. On face value, these events are outdoors and therefore more safe. But in reality many families gather in large numbers and return to their houses for a weekend of close quarters celebrations. Hopefully people will be responsible and not act in a way to endanger the gains made in the last months. 

Corruption Updates

Good news for a change on this front!

President’s Anti-Corruption Council

President Sandu was joined by representatives of the British Government this week to announce the creation of a technical advisory body on anti-corruption within the Presidency. The composition of this council has yet to be announced but it will be supported with financing from the UK government and consist of technical experts who can support reform efforts. While even speaking the word “corruption” was taboo at almost all levels of government in Moldova only 2 years ago, there has been a serious movement to bring this issue front and center. It remains to be seen what this means for electoral platforms and real reforms, but it represents some good news in a section of this newsletter that is more often a bit of a downer. 

Stolen Money Returned by the British Government

More positive anti-corruption news spotlighting the UK Government. 468,000 GBP that was seized from Luca Filat, the son of the former political leader Vlad Filat, was returned to Moldova this week. President Sandu announced that the money would be allocated to the National Agency for Social Assistance to support people with disabilities. It is important to realize that the country returning the money, in this case the UK, often will conduct negotiations on how the money will be spent in order to assure it will not simply be stolen again. The UK has long been a strong supporter of people with disabilities in Moldova so this is a sensible way to return the funds. 

Recall, Luca Filat’s money was seized in 2019 when he was a young college student in London. Luca raised eyebrows by throwing lavish parties, buying a 200,000 GBP Bently, and pre-paying rent on a penthouse apartment to the tune of 390,000 GBP. The British authorities investigated and, finding no legitimate source of his funds, froze the accounts. Once frozen, he replenished his funding through transfers from anonymous shell companies in Turkey and the Cayman islands. This led the British government to simply seize the funds and begin negotiations on returning them to Moldova. 

Ending on a High Note!

Moldovan wrestler Victor Ciobanu first place in a qualifying tournament in Bulgaria securing him a place in the upcoming Olympic Games! Additionally, athletes Daniela Cociu and Maria Olărașu qualified for kayak canoeing and will also go to the games. Presuming the games go ahead on schedule we will have an opportunity to root for some great Moldovan athletes this year like Victor Ciobanu, Daniela Cociu and Maria Olărașu!