Large-scale protests in Chisinau
The Moldovan capital city Chisinau this weekend saw a large-scale anti-government rally
Bogdan Matei, 14.09.2015, 13:06
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Chisinau this weekend for the second consecutive week to voice their dissatisfaction with the Government, whom they criticize for betraying its pro-European and Western aspirations and goals. There is no telling when the protesters will call off their meetings, as on Sunday the main square in Chisinau was packed with people.
Protesters have channeled their disgruntlement against Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet and Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu, who came to the square to discuss with protesters. Radio Romanias correspondents on the ground say both sides have maintained their original standpoints. The Prime Minister says that ever since his Government was sworn in six weeks ago, it has undertaken action aimed at solving some of Moldovas pressing issues.
Unless it fails to pass a no-confidence vote in Parliament, his Government will not step down, as this might further deepen the current political and economic crisis, Strelet went on to say. Previously the Moldovan official had said that the very existence of Moldova is in danger, as problems such as corruption, poverty and the peoples waning confidence in the countrys political class are the effects of actions over the course of several years. In turn, president Nicolae Timofti ruled out the option of resigning.
His stepping down could result in a new political crisis, which would in turn lead to a power void that would fuel instability. Timofti is blaming the states underperforming institutions, such as the National Bank, the Prosecutor Generals Office or the National Anti-Corruption Centre, after last year 1 billion dollars, accounting for 15% of the countrys GDP, mysteriously disappeared from the Moldovan banking system. Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu has warned that organizing snap elections, as protesters have called for, would sink the country into deeper chaos.
Candu said that Parliaments list of priorities for its autumn session includes the reform of the judiciary and promised that a Romanian prosecutor with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate will be assisting the National Anti-Corruption Centre and the Prosecutor Generals Office. The leaders of the protest movement however remain reluctant. ‘Unless the authorities will hear us out right here in the capital, then we will spread the wave of protests to the entire republic.
Our leaders will then feel the ground slipping from under their feet, Valentin Dolganiuc, a former MP in the 1991 Parliament told us. Score of others like him are well-known public figures with a spotless reputation, which however does not mean that the protest movement might get sidetracked.
The chairman of the Centre for Conflict Prevention in Bucharest and a former presidential advisor, Iulian Chifu has warned against the threat that socialists and populists in opposition might join the protest movement, as they are the first to question the legitimacy of a pro-Western Government.
